Arkansas's childcare crisis | High costs, workforce issues among biggest factors impacting parents

“Only about 15% of families with infants and toddlers can find good childcare in Arkansas,” Excel by Eight Executive Director Angela Duran said.

Finding and affording childcare is raising obstacles for families and the workforce, while Arkansas misses out on millions of dollars.

"It's a crisis for parents, it's a crisis for employers, and it's really a crisis for our state as a whole,” Duran said.

The childcare crisis is a nationwide problem, in Arkansas, parents, employers, and childcare workers are not immune from the impacts.

Bailey Clark is a mom of two and said the sticker shock for daycare was significant for her family.

"You just don't really know until you get into it,” Bailey Clark said. "Having two [children] a year and a half apart, we had daycare costs that were above our mortgage payment.”

Keesha Motley has a newborn and echoed the expensive nature of childcare.

“Childcare is very expensive,” Keesha Motley said. “I was given a rate whenever I was on a wait list, and by the time I was accepted, the rate had already gone up."

A local Facebook group in Central Arkansas clued in how extensive the issues are as the response confirmed, the cost of childcare is one of the biggest issues families are facing.

Some moms shared they pay upwards of $5,000 a month in childcare—to $50,000 a year.

Angela Duran is the executive director of Excel by Eight and said these extreme costs present a crisis for Arkansas parents, especially those who are barely making ends meet.

“A two-parent family, and you're each making $30,000 a year, so you're making $60,000,” Duran said. “If you have to pay $20,000 for childcare, that's a third of your income.”

On top of the high costs, there's a lack of availability, causing parents to sign their names on multiple day-care waitlists.

“It's crazy to not know a gender or name or anything about your baby and sign up,” Motley explained. “The second you find out you're pregnant, get on a list.”

Both Motley and Clark urged new parents to immediately find daycares and get on the waitlists, the earlier the better.

“If you're not on a waitlist by third trimester, you might have to find alternate plans until you can get into a center,” Clarks said.

The problems in childcare aren't only felt by the parents, Clark has a unique perspective sitting on the board of her kids' daycare, seeing the extensive impacts on both parents and workers.

“It’s the most gut wrenching because I know firsthand how expensive childcare is for me and for my fellow parents at the center, but I also see behind the curtain, of how little our teachers are making, it's barely a livable wage,” Clark explained.

Clark said at the Gertrude Remmel Butler Child Development Center they try to thread the needle, looking for ways to both provide quality childcare that's still affordable, and keep the business afloat. 

“We charge around $210 a week for our center. that encompasses all the costs,” Clark said. “Over the last four years, our food costs have nearly doubled, and we've seen a lot of centers close because of the rise in cost. Here locally, you maybe have even less options on childcare providers than you did before.”

Duran said families can't afford to pay what it would cost to give early childhood educators a salary that measures up with the important work they’re doing—educating young children.

“Many childcare workers themselves only make $10 or $11 an hour, and they can find a higher paying job at the local coffee shop,” Duran explained. “The childcare market is a really tough market to sustain and keep going.”

All these issues are creating a ripple effect across the board.

"I run a business, I'm not able to just work remotely, there's no option for me to have my child at home in that transition, so it was, can I run this business, or am I going to have childcare?" Motley questioned.

Motley’s decision is a scenario hundreds— even thousands of Arkansas families find themselves in. 
having to make decisions to either work or have childcare?

Bryan Day is the Little Rock Port Authority executive director, the childcare crisis digging its claws in their workforce.

“At the Port of Little Rock there's probably 10,000 jobs, my guess is there's well over 700 vacancies today that these manufacturers are trying to fill and to recruit employees for,” Bryan Day is the Little Rock Port Authority executive director said.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce Foundation, 34% of Arkansans reported that they or someone in the household had to: 
- LEAVE A JOB
- SWITCH JOBS
- OR NOT TAKE ONE 
All because of troubles with childcare.

“It's complicated and it's not easy, because as a parent, the most important decision they make is where they can put that child,” Day said.

Both Day and Duran agree— as childcare bubbles to the top as the most pressing issue, the workforce is directly impacted, with high rates of vacancies in many industries.

“Employers are really starting to feel the pinch themselves,” Duran said. “They're having a hard time hiring and retaining workers because of the need.”

Childcare has slowly become probably the most critical obstacle in workers finding meaningful employment.

“If you have a limited pool of workers and you're trying to find qualified workers with that limited pool, it becomes hard for companies and hiring authorities to find those folks,” Day explained.

Duran also pointed to how the state is missing out on dollars because of the childcare crisis.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Arkansas employers lose an estimated $865 million annually because of this crisis

“Almost $900 million a year, and that's lost revenue from businesses, lost income tax, sales tax, and revenue for the state as well,” Duran explained/

There's an expansive effort in the state to find a solution.

“We've grown that [Excel by Eight] into a business coalition in the state of over 75 members,” Duran said. “There are issues with access, there are issues with affordability for families, and we want to do something about that.”

Duran said there are levels to making a terrible issue—better and it can start with employers.

“Some employers are paying to purchase slots at a childcare center in that community, or negotiating with childcare centers to offer care during the time when shift work is happening,” Duran said.

So, all eyes are on the 2025 Arkansas legislative session, as many believe sustainable progress for the childcare crisis comes from policy.

“I don't think people realize this, Kindergarten through 12th grade education is paid for through government funding for the most part and childcare is not,” Duran said.

Tax credits for employers and child tax credits for parents are a key pitch for lawmakers in the upcoming session.

"For investing in their employee’s childcare, a company would have the ability to get a tax credit,” Day said. “So, not only are they helping grow their employee workforce, not only are they helping ensure that child has good quality health care, but they're getting some tax savings by those tax credits.”

It’s basically the same scenario for child tax credits for parents.
"Child tax credits are always something that's a huge benefit,” Clark said. “If people at the end of the year when they go to file their tax returns, get a lot of that [childcare] money back.”

Excel by Eight, parents, and employers want Arkansas legislators to see that childcare is critical to the state's infrastructure, and fixing the problem can be a win for all Arkansans.

“It helps young, struggling families and It gives children an opportunity to succeed, as we know that early childhood education and childcare is critical to child's development,” Day explained. “This is one that I think everyone can win, and I don't know what the downsides to considering it are.”

As families, workers and employers get by. there's hope a shift is around the corner.

“We have to address issues like childcare, and we can't do it alone,” Day said. “We won't solve all the challenges, but we can take a huge first step.”