Hundreds of Indiana child care centers at risk of closing
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Indiana is teetering on the edge of a "child care cliff" after pandemic-era federal relief funding for the industry ran out over the weekend.
Driving the news: Without intervention, nearly 50,000 Hoosier children are expected to lose child care, according to an analysis by the Century Foundation.
- The national think tank estimates more than 1,000 Indiana child care programs could close.
Why it matters: Hoosier families stand to lose more than $100 million in earnings as a result of being forced to cut work hours or leave the workforce, and employers could lose even more from employee productivity, according to the report.
The big picture: Indiana has already a gap in capacity.
- There are more than 500,000 Hoosier children age 5 and under, according to Early Learning Indiana, and two-thirds of them need child care so their parents can work.
- 40% of those kids live in a child care desert, where there are only enough seats for one-third of them.
Plus: Child care is already expensive, and the loss of federal funding for providers could make it more so.
- In Marion County, the average cost of full-time child care is more than $10,000 a year, according to Early Learning Indiana.
By the numbers: According to Brighter Futures Indiana, more than 3,300 Hoosier child care programs received stabilization grants through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and 2022, totaling more than $540 million in assistance.
- More than $132 million went to providers in Marion County.
- Nearly $50 million went to Hamilton County providers.
Reality check: The federal funding amounted to a $24 billion Band-Aid patched over an industry that's long struggled across the nation.
What's next: If the dire forecasts prove true, millions of parents — particularly mothers — are going to be left with some hard choices.