There is likely not a parent or employer in North Carolina who has not been directly impacted by the “child care trilemma,” a term coined by the late great Gwen Morgan in 1986 to describe the lack of available, affordable, quality child care.
While the crisis is not new — and those of us in the early childhood field have been shouting about it from the rooftops for decades — it has been exacerbated since the pandemic as the state has lost 280 net programs. In the rare case that someone is not aware of the crisis at this point, a simple search on any news or social media site will shed light on the daily struggles being faced by many North Carolinians.
With over 90% of brain development occurring within the first five years of a child’s life, the experiences that happen during this time frame literally set the stage for all future development. While some parents choose, and are financially able, to stay home with their young child and provide the supportive and nurturing interactions that are the building blocks of this early human development, many parents cannot or choose not to do so and need high-quality, affordable child care options.
This is why we must dedicate funding to solve the child care trilemma. Ample research shows the importance of high-quality care, not just in its benefits to our children, but in its societal and economic benefits to us all. In order to move the needle, a shared understanding of exactly what the issues are, and why we as North Carolinians have not been able to solve this ongoing challenge, is imperative.
This visual of the child care trilemma shows the interconnectedness of child care availability, affordability, and quality. They are equally important and rarely, if ever, in balance.
Focusing on only one issue would be ineffective in achieving the affordability, availability, and quality children and families need. For example, focusing only on quality would make care less affordable. If availability is widened without investing in quality, parents might not choose to utilize care. If affordability is the sole focus, there still might not be enough care to meet the need. Addressing each component is crucial to solving the crisis.
Increasing availability
The demand for child care far outweighs the supply. In North Carolina, there are five children competing for every one spot available.
If parents do not have access to child care, they are unable to work. Twenty-six percent of parents reported they had to leave the workforce because they couldn’t find affordable care in a recent report from the NC Chamber of Commerce Foundation and NC Child.
The state distributed millions of federal dollars in stabilization grants to early childhood programs during the pandemic. The General Assembly has continued those grants in recent months at a reduced rate, but they are slated to end in March 2025.
A February 2024 survey conducted by the NC CCR&R Council found that three in 10 programs expected to close at some point after the stabilization grants end. That is over 1,500 programs (roughly 30% of family child care homes and 28% of child care centers).
Increasing affordability
Affordability is what parents are willing and financially able to pay. In North Carolina the average cost of licensed child care is $9,255 for infants and $7,592 for 4 year olds. This is roughly 25% higher than the national average and rivals the cost of college tuition.
While child care subsidies are provided to those who qualify, there are over 30,000 children from birth to 5 years old on the waiting list, according to the NC Early Education Coalition. The lack of affordable care does not just affect parents and children. Employers in North Carolina lose $4.2 billion a year and the state loses another $1.36 billion in revenue due to work disruptions and turnover related to child care issues, found the report from the NC Chamber Foundation and NC Child.
Increasing quality
Quality care includes well-compensated teachers who have education and experience, appropriate group size, and safe and enriching physical spaces and materials. The most important indicator of quality, research says, is consistent and nurturing relationships with caregivers.
Before the pandemic, the average early childhood teacher pay was only $12 per hour. At this painfully low wage, teacher turnover was high, and recruiting new teachers was difficult.
In the years following the pandemic, these challenges intensified. The teacher turnover rate rose from 21% in 2019 to 38% in 2023, and over 22% of all teachers reported that they would likely leave the field within the next three years in a 2024 workforce study from Early Years, previously known as Child Care Services Association.
Other countries prioritize funding for early care and education, as described in this recently released book from the National Center on Education and the Economy, “The Early Advantage: Building Systems that Work for Young Children.” Author Sharon Lynn Kagan lays out case studies that can serve as examples of how other jurisdictions around the world have influenced policy change for early childhood systems to better serve children.
Many U.S. states are also experimenting with creative solutions involving tax credits, state government investments, and philanthropic and business involvement such as in Vermont, Oregon, and New Mexico. And in North Carolina, the General Assembly allocated funding for the NC Partnership for Children to pilot the NC Tri-Share Early Childhood Program with the Smart Start Network, where the price of child care is shared equally between the state, the employer, and the employee (parent).
North Carolina once led the way nationally with early childhood initiatives, and we can lead again. We have a solid and proven infrastructure with the Smart Start Network offering support for early learning programs, family and community support, and local systems-building efforts. Smart Start also partners with the Early Years, which offers the WAGE$ program, providing teacher salary supplements, and the T.E.A.C.H. program, which provides educational scholarships. We are fortunate to have a plethora of agencies dedicated to helping all children have the opportunity and support to thrive.
We are fortunate to have bipartisan support for the early years in North Carolina. Now, more than ever, solutions must include dedicated, increased investments so that each child in every community has access to high-quality, affordable early care and education options in the most impactful years of human development.
The benefit will not only be for the children, but to our society and our economy. This will be expensive; however, there are not many investments that can deliver a 13% return. We must fund programs that provide positive outcomes for young children and offer viable solutions that work for their families.
