Most young Virginia kids live in child care deserts
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
More than half of Virginia families with young children live in a "child care desert" — a region with a shortage of licensed day care providers, according to a new analysis.
Why it matters: Quality child care is a crucial benefit for parents with jobs — particularly mothers — and shortages are a financial and logistical headache for families, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
- Plus, a lack of available child care can lead many parents — particularly those mothers — to simply drop out of the workforce.
By the numbers: Last year, 57% of Virginia children ages 6 and younger lived in a "child care desert," per a new report from the liberal Center for American Progress.
- That's an area where there are more than three kids per available licensed child care slot.
- Nationwide, it was 46%.
- Both stats are an improvement over previous years — likely due in part to a surge in pandemic-era federal government funding that has since dried up.
Context: CAP first started tracking this data in 2016, and last month's release was the first update since 2020, when the pandemic upended the child care system.
Threat level: Access to child care isn't the only issue for working parents. Cost is also putting a huge financial strain on families and threatens working moms' labor force participation.
- The average cost of daycare tuition in Virginia for two children — one toddler and one infant — was $30,680 in 2024, per advocacy group Child Care Aware.
Meanwhile, more mothers are working than ever before, per the latest stats from the Bureau of Labor.
- 74% of women with kids under 18 participated in the labor force last year, up from 72% in 2023.
Yes, but: That participation varies widely depending on the age of the kids, per BLS.
- Just 68% of mothers with kids under the age of 6 worked last year compared to 78% of women with kids 6 to 17.
- The intrigue: Fathers with kids under 6 were more likely to work than ones with older kids (95% labor participation vs. 93%).
The bottom line: Mother's Day is this weekend. You should do something nice for your mom.