Texas lawmakers must address the child care crisis that's holding families back
Consider these stark realities: Nearly 95,000 Texas children languish on waiting lists for the state subsidies they need to access child care services. This isn't just a number. It represents tens of thousands of families across 70% of Texas' counties struggling to balance work and parenthood. It represents 95,000 missed opportunities for early childhood development and 95,000 potential setbacks for our state's future.
The impact of this child care shortage ripples far beyond individual families. The child care sector is a powerful economic engine. In 2022, child care generated a staggering $12.6 billion in economic impact in Texas, according to The Conference Board — Committee for Economic Development 2024 report. This includes $4.9 billion in direct child care revenue and an additional $7.66 billion in spillover effects across other industries. We're talking about $4.86 billion in household earnings and 210,544 million jobs. To put it bluntly, child care isn't just a social issue; it's a critical economic issue.
In Texas, more than 140,000 people are employed by the child care industry, generating millions in purchases of goods and services, further fueling economic activity. Yet, this vital sector is teetering on the brink of collapse as rising costs outpace what families can afford, making the business unsustainable.
That means businesses and nonprofits alike are struggling to retain employees who are forced to reduce hours or leave the workforce entirely due to a lack of affordable and accessible child care.
With child care, we have an increased labor force, a stronger economy and brighter futures for our children. Without it, parents are forced to make impossible choices, reducing work hours or opting out of the workforce altogether, hindering their career progression and impacting their families' financial stability. The consequences are clear: This will continue to weaken our economy.
Texas has 365 zip codes designated as child care deserts. These are communities where access to quality child care is anywhere from severely lacking to virtually non-existent. Furthermore, Texas provides assistance to only 14% of the children who qualify for child care subsidies. The vast majority of low-income families are left struggling, unable to access the care their children need to thrive.
We urge Texans and lawmakers to support increased state funding to serve more children on the waiting list and implement these three measures:
Senate Bill 972/House Bill 2294, to allow local workforce boards to increase reimbursement rates to child care providers who provide care under the state-funded subsidy program.
SB 462/HB 3807, to give a priority spot on the waiting list for child care subsidies to families in which a parent is a child care worker.
SB 599/HB 4127, to ease the regulatory burden on home-based child care providers by preventing local communities from adding their own rules on top of the state ones.
This crisis demands a comprehensive and urgent response. We must invest our time, energy and resources to pressure our state leaders to take action. We must invest in our children, the foundation of our future. We must invest in our families, the backbone of our communities. And we must invest in the well-being of our economy, the engine of our prosperity.
Kim Kofron is the senior director of education at Children at Risk, a Texas-based, nonpartisan research and advocacy group. Audrey Rowland is the president of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas lawmakers must address the child care crisis | Opinion
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