Child care is a double-edged sword, says Lindsay Turner from the Adirondack B to 3 Alliance. Both families and providers struggle to afford it: “child care providers don’t get paid a high living wage, and parents find it expensive.”
Before COVID-19, the North Country was already classified as a child care desert. Since 2017, the North Country has been steadily losing child care capacity which that means programs are closing, and new ones aren’t opening. On average, there was one spot for every six kids here. So every open provider and center counts.
Now over half of child care centers in the North Country are closed. The economics of a child care center are particularly tricky, and particularly perilous. Here’s why.
Read and listen to this full story from North Country Public Radio here.
