Kansas
Working families in Kansas need accessible, affordable, quality child care and early learning opportunities for their children.
Currently, federal and state early learning programs reach thousands of young children and their families in Kansas. But too many working families in Kansas are missing out. As a direct result of child care issues, the Kansas economy loses millions of dollars each year in the form of lost earnings, productivity, and revenue.
There are 218K children ages 5 and under in Kansas – 67% of these children have all available parents in the workforce.
The typical annual cost of child care for an infant in Kansas is around $15,000.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant only reaches 11% of eligible families in Kansas. (This federal program helps low-income parents afford child care.)
On average, child care providers in Kansas earn just $27,200 a year; this can make it a challenge to recruit and retain this workforce, leading to supply issues.
Kansas’ economy loses $1B annually due to child care challenges
Kansas: In The Headlines
Opinion: Lack of child care hurts rural communities
High Plains Journal | nOVEMBER 22, 2024
Lack of child care has forced many parents—mostly mothers—to abandon their careers to stay home with their children full time. This affects the workforce in small communities and leads to one-income households.
‘Families are struggling’: Kansas child care providers ask for funding increase
Hays Post | February 29 2024
Child care data in the state suggests only 46% of children in Kansas are receiving child care services, and that an additional 85,000 child care slots are needed to meet demand.
Only 12% of eligible Kansas families signed up for programs to make child care cheaper
The Beacon | July 16, 2024
The families of nearly 100,000 children in Kansas were potentially eligible for child care subsidies in 2020. Yet barely more than one in eight got the federal benefit designed to make child care more affordable.
Kansas Resources & News
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