By The Numbers: Child care industry braces for potential funding cliff

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Early learning and child care advocates are warning of a dire lack of child care spots as temporary pandemic-era funding expires.

The American Rescue Plan, which went into effect March 2021, provided $23.97 billion for child care stabilization grants to states, territories, and tribes based on the current Child Care and Development Block Grant formula. The funding was specifically targeted to help the child care industry meet the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The spending deadline for those funds is Sept. 30.

According to a survey conducted by the RAPID Project at Stanford University's Center on Early Childhood Education, nearly 1 in 4 child care programs would have folded without the federal emergency funding. That finding is based on responses collected from 1,057 child care providers between October 2021 and March 2023.

According to calculations by The Century Foundation, an estimated 3.2 million children will lose access to child care, and about 70,000 child care programs will close once the stabilization funds run out.

Democrat lawmakers on Capitol Hill are proposing to extend the stabilization funding by providing $16 billion in mandatory funding each year for the next five years. But with less than a week to go for Congress to agree on a FY 2024 budget or face a government shutdown, it's unclear how far the proposal will go.

"There was a child care crisis even before the pandemic — and failing to extend these critical investments from the American Rescue Plan will push child care even further out of reach for millions of families and jeopardize our strong economic recovery,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, in a Sept. 13 statement.

Here's a closer look at the impact of the child care relief dollars and early childhood care needs across the country:

By the numbers

67%

How many child care providers who received ARP funds and said they used the money for payroll, both to pay current employees and to raise wages.

305,976

How many children in Texas would lose access to child care if funding isn't extended. Also in Texas, 3,949 centers would close without new funding.

232,000

The number of child care workers nationally who may lose their jobs.

$13.71

The national per hour median pay of a child care worker in 2022, which amounts to $28,520 annually.

18,500

The decrease in the number of child care workers nationally expected between 2022 and 2032.

$25,000

The cost per year for child care for two young children in Wisconsin.

The number of states, plus the District of Columbia, where the average price of child care for an infant in a center exceeded annual, in-state university tuition by less than 1% to over 100%.

$9 billion

The potential loss of wages of parents who would be unable to find child care.

$3.4 billion

The increase in Child Care and Development Fund allocations, which supports low-income families, between FY 2019 and FY 2023. This represents a 42% increase.