TEXAS, USA — To say it’s difficult finding good childcare in Texas would be a gross understatement.
In fact, researchers at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT-Austin put a dollar figure on how much it costs Texas every year to fail to provide adequate childcare for working families: $11.4 billion.
Bottom line: if families can even find decent childcare, it’s costing them way too much.
“It’s a quality of life issue for us. I mean, on average, when you look at childcare costs across the state of Texas, one of the things that we know is that the average family is spending about $800 a month in childcare costs. Now if you think about that, the average Texas family earns about $65,000 of median household income. So, that’s about 14% of their income,” Professor Steven Pedigo told us on Y’all-itics.
Steven Pedigo is a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the director of the LBJ Urban Lab.
He’s also one of the lead authors of a policy brief researchers sent to lawmakers that outlines the childcare crisis and explains why it’s poised to become one of the paramount policy issues facing lawmakers when they return to Austin for the next legislative session in January 2025.
The numbers contained within that policy brief are sobering.
Between March 2020 and January 2023, Texas had 5,000 childcare centers and licensed family homes close. That means the state had 27% fewer childcare programs than before the pandemic.
More than half of the counties in Texas are now childcare deserts, which means there are at least three times as many children under age 5 as there are fully licensed childcare slots available.
Texas childcare workers earn an average wage of $12 per hour, poverty-level wages.
And researchers say at that level of pay, those workers would have to spend more than 35% of their monthly income on the average cost of childcare.
Texas businesses, including the Texas Restaurant Association and the Texas Association of Businesses, are taking notice as well because if anything will threaten the so-called “Texas Miracle” of economic expansion, it’s a lack of childcare.
“They realize that if they can’t provide affordable childcare, their workforce doesn’t have access to affordable childcare, then they cannot keep people in the workforce, right? So, this is absolutely kind of this idea of a workforce development issue,” said Pedigo.
That’s also one of the many reasons why this is an issue that impacts parents and non-parents alike. Listen to the entire episode to learn more, including possible solutions, including an effort by the Texas Restaurant Association and the Texas Association of Businesses to expand childcare access. Cheers!
