Texas
Working families in Texas 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 Texas. But too many working families in Texas are missing out. As a direct result of child care issues, the Texas economy loses millions of dollars each year in the form of lost earnings, productivity, and revenue.
There are 2.3M children ages 5 and under in Texas – 60% of these children have all available parents in the workforce.
The typical annual cost of child care for an infant in Texas is around $11,000.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant only reaches 13% of eligible families in Texas. (This federal program helps low-income parents afford child care.)
On average, child care providers in Texas earn just $27,880 a year; this can make it a challenge to recruit and retain this workforce, leading to supply issues.
Texas’ economy loses $11.4B annually due to child care challenges.
Texas: In The Headlines
Opinion: Addressing Texas’ child care crisis should be a top priority for lawmakers
San Antonio Express-News | jANUARY 9, 2025
Families deserve choices, whether they want to stay home with their young children, drop them off with a grandparent, or sign them up for child care with a faith-based provider, a child care center or a licensed provider who operates out of her home.
Child care crisis likely to hit the office in this year
Houston Business Journal | jANUARY 15, 2025
Against the backdrop of a tight labor market and the child care cliff, experts say businesses should think outside the box when it comes to employees who are parents.
Texas restaurants, businesses reveal child care reform demands for upcoming session
Fort Worth Star Telegram | November 13, 2024
Existing gaps in the child care sector that are preventing businesses and the state economy from reaching their full potential at an annual price tag of about $9.4 billion.
Texas Resources & News
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The First Five Things to Know About: the House Bipartisan Pre-K and Child Care Caucus
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2024 Child Care and Early Learning State Fact Sheets
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FFYF’S 2023 State Fact Sheets
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FFYF’s 2022 Child Care & Early Learning State Fact Sheets
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The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program provides federal funds to states, territories, and tribal entities for voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services. This program was reauthorized in …
2021 State Fact Sheets: Examining the Impact and Unmet Need of Federal & State ECE Funding
FFYF has released the latest iteration of its annual state fact sheets, which draw on numerous data sources to offer details about the early childhood opportunities in each state made …
Texas — Federal Support for Early Learning & Care Opportunities
High-quality early childhood education is proven to dramatically improve a child’s opportunities for a better future—particularly children from low-income families—while offering parents improved job stability and overall economic security. To …
FFYF Releases State Fact Sheets, Highlighting Unique Local Landscapes
This summer, FFYF released updated state fact sheets, which draw on numerous data sources to offer details about the early childhood opportunities in each state made possible through federal and state …
Texas: Federal Support for Early Learning & Care Opportunities
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See How All 50 States Use CCDBG Funding to Support Working Families Access Quality Child Care
Yesterday, our friends at Child Care Aware of America released a series of state fact sheets on the status of funding through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) …
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Big news! 46 states and territories have been awarded funding through the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5), a $250 million competitive federal grant designed to improve states’ existing early …
