Average cost for child care in Ohio is more than $11K for an infant. How can state help?

• For child care to be considered affordable, it has to cost 7% or less of a family's annual income
• Researchers say Ohio has seen a 36% drop in the number of child care workers in the state
• DeWine wants to create a voucher program that would support 8,000 children in Ohio

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced two new initiatives to improve access to child care last week in his State of the State address.

Legislators and experts think the initiatives will help, but say Ohio has more to do to expand access.

The average cost of child care is unaffordable for many families in Ohio. Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit research institute, released a report on child care accessibility in March that found the average annual cost of child care at a center for a family with one infant is $11,438.

For child care to be considered affordable, it has to cost 7% or less of a family's annual income, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Researchers found that expenses would have to be below $4,700 a year to be considered affordable based on the median household income in Ohio.

Researchers found that at current rates, an Ohio family would have to make $250,385 a year for child care for an infant and a toddler at the average center to be considered affordable.

Kathryn Poe, who co-authored the report, said people don't realize the impact child care expenses have on Ohioans in all economic classes.

"Often we still talk about it as giving child care assistance to just the poorest folks and only that. It can't be that way in order for this program to actually be successful and reach people. It has to be accessible for people who are solidly in the middle class in Ohio," they said.

Poe and co-author Alissa Smith found there's been a decline in the number of children benefiting from publicly funded child care, from 172,585 children in 2019 to 143,888 in 2021, the most recent data available.

They also found a decline in the number of child care workers by nearly 36% between 2017 and 2022, which experts say is in part because of low wages.

Kara Wente, director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, said at an Ohio Chamber of Commerce event on Tuesday that the average wage for a child care worker was $11.92 in 2019. That increased to $14.84 by the end of last year.

"You don't hear us celebrating that increase, because that's obviously not where anyone needs it to be. But at least we're starting to see the trend move in the right direction, which is reassuring," Wente said,

What did DeWine propose in the State of the State?

During his State of the State address last week, DeWine proposed a new child care voucher program for families that make up to 200% of the federal poverty level, which would be $60,000 for a family of four. The governor said the program will provide support for 8,000 children in Ohio.

Currently, only families that earn up to 145% of the federal poverty level are eligible for publicly funded child care, which would be a family of four with an income of up to $45,240.

DeWine also announced the state will allocate $85 million in federal funding to upgrade and expand child care facilities.

How much will the initiatives help?

Wente praised the governor for increasing eligibility from 130% to 145% of the federal poverty level during his time in office and said the voucher program will be a "pretty big deal" for the 8,000 children who benefit but that it's not enough.

"It doesn't put us in line with the other states. And the governor truly wants this to be the best place to raise a family and we know child care is a key component to that," she said.

Policy Matters Ohio researchers recommended expanding eligibility to up to 300% of the federal poverty level, which would assist Ohioans with a median household income of $65,720.

Wente said the voucher program will give the state more data for future policy decisions, as the data following the pandemic has. She said about 70% of the applications denied in 2020 were for families that met the requirements in that they were working or in school but were over the income threshold to qualify.

"That's really where we get to those families that are making those critical decisions around 'Do I continue to work? Or is today the day that one of us decides to stay home because we can't afford it?' Those are the families we're hoping to serve and support through this childcare voucher program," Wente said.

Alissa Smith with Policy Matters Ohio said while the voucher program is a step in the right direction, publicly funded child care needs a long-term change. She said what the state learns from the capacity grants about who's applying and where the money is needed will help.

How much will the child care vouchers cost?

Poe said any policy solution for making child care more accessible has to involve more funding.

"There's not an aspect of this issue that wouldn't be better with more money," Poe said.

The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau requested cost estimates for the publicly funded child care currently and the new voucher program from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth but did not receive a response before publication.

What will lawmakers do?

Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said after the governor's address he was pleased to hear DeWine talk about increasing access and that the conversation needs to focus on increasing capacity as there are fewer child care centers in Ohio now than there were a decade ago.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said if the Republican majority in the legislature could raise the eligibility threshold for school vouchers to 450% of the federal poverty level, the legislature should increase the eligibility for families receiving child care.

Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, and Rep. Bill Roemer, R-Richfield, introduced a bill to establish child care grant programs in the Ohio House of Representatives on April 10. The bill would allocate $10 million to the Department of Children and Youth to administer grants of up to $750,000 to increase child care availability.

What happens next?

New federal rules regarding child care take effect on April 30, although Ohio can request a two-year waiver for time to comply.

The new rules will require state agencies to pay providers based on enrollment rather than attendance, which would give providers more stability.

The rules will also require that copayments for families receiving publicly funded child care can be no more than 7% of the family's income.

Erin Glynn is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.