Child Care and Early Education
A shortage of affordable, safe, and high-quality child care and early education services is creating serious challenges for kids, families, and poses significant risks to our economy.
Why are Child Care and Early Education so Important?
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS FOR KIDS
There are hundreds of Anchorage kids that start kindergarten without the foundational skills they need. This is especially true for young kids that don’t have a stable care situation at home, including families that don’t have secure housing. Child care access helps ensure that Anchorage kids will start kindergarten ready to learn, set them up to learn to read, and succeed all the way through high school. Studies show high-quality child care and early education programs help kids by increasing reading scores and graduation rates, lowering incarceration rates, and even improving long-term health.
BUSINESSES AND THE ECONOMY
A shortage of qualified workers is the number one problem facing Alaska businesses. A lack of child care is a big part of that problem. In 2021, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that child care issues in Alaska result in an estimated $165 million loss annually for Alaska’s economy. We cannot meaningfully address our workforce shortage without addressing the child care shortage. Child care access can free up more parents to reenter the workforce and make Alaska a more attractive place for businesses and families.
HELPFUL STATISTICS
The state of child care in AK
We use research and data to monitor where there has been progress and where we need to focus our efforts to build a stronger future for our children and our state.
$165
Million
Child care issues cost the Alaska economy $165 million every
year, according to the US Chamber of commerce
70%
By age five, a child's brain is 90% developed, but 70% of Anchorage children are already behind by the time they get to kindergarten
77%
of Alaska parents missed work due to child care issues in the past three months
40%
In a survey conducted by the US and Alaska Chamber of Commerce, 40% of respondents reported that they or someone in their household has left a job, not taken a job, or greatly changed jobs because of problems with child care in the last 12 months
Stories from Alaskans
Executive Producer, Writer, & Casting Director - Laura Norton-Cruz
Director of Photography, Editor, Director - Joshua Albeza Branstetter
This film was a production of: Laura Norton-Cruz Consulting & Branstetter Film
Support for this project was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Culture of Health Leaders program.
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