Craig and Ayotte agree there is a child care crisis. Neither commits to more government funding. • New Hampshire Bulletin

The next governor will inherit a statewide child care crisis that continues despite recent state and federal investments more than $160 million. And to get the problem under control, it will have a tight budget that will miss two important sources of income: millions in pandemic aid and the interest and dividend tax, which has now been abolished.

The crisis is complex.

There are too few spots because recruiting and retaining workers is difficult with an average salary of $1.5 million $15.62 per hourless than what retail workers and preschool teachers earn, according to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. This contributed to a shortage of slots, which added up about 8,400 per year between 2018 and 2022, the institute found.

And what is available is expensive and can be far from a family home.

According to the institute, the average annual cost of child care at a center for an infant and a four-year-old combined was $28,340 in 2022. And the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire recently reported that while the number of child care spaces for children under 5 increased by 5.6 percent between 2017 and 2024, the number of providers serving this age group fell by about the same amount, leaving more communities without child care.

Both gubernatorial candidates, Republican Kelly Ayotte and Democrat Joyce Craig, have said expanding affordable, high-quality child care in New Hampshire is a top priority. Each of them also shared their own experiences of raising children while working.

At a recent forum hosted by AARP NH and Stay Work Play, Ayotte called the lack of child care an issue as serious as the housing crisis. In the same forum, Craig shared her own story of struggling to find care for her second child.

Here, Ayotte and Craig weigh in on two important child care issues: cost and staffing.

Scholarships

The state subsidizes child care costs for eligible families through a child care grant program funded with state and federal funds. Lawmakers expanded funding options in the current budget to make child care more affordable for low- and middle-income families.

The legislature also increased the amount of subsidies.

Now a family of two making less than $72,193 a year can be eligible if they meet other requirements: their children must be under 13 or 18 if they have a disability, and they must be working, looking for work or participate in a training program.

The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute reported this in August Enrollment increased 21 percent in the first six months of changes. Still, child care providers and others have said the application process can be so difficult and time-consuming that some eligible families don’t take advantage of the assistance.

Both Craig and Ayotte said they support the expanded eligibility and increased subsidies and expressed concerns about the application process. Both said they would streamline this process, particularly by reducing “bureaucratic burden,” but did not provide specific details.

As a step in that direction, Craig said she will advocate for the state to fill vacancies that she said have contributed to delays in the delivery of state services in general.

At the forum, both candidates linked the need for more child care to the economy.

“Families say this scholarship has been instrumental in helping working mothers stay employed and successful,” Ayotte said.

Craig recalled a conversation with a mother who said she spent about 70 percent of her income on child care.

“To me, it’s really easy to review and correct a process so that more people can get the grants they need to send their children to state-run child care,” Craig told the audience.

Support for childcare providers

Starting in January, child care providers will automatically be eligible for a child care grant if their income is at or below the average income where they live. You must also meet the other scholarship requirements.

The year-long, $1 million pilot project The grant passed this year was celebrated by child care advocates, but noted that most child care providers already qualify for the existing grant based on their income. The pilot project will not continue unless lawmakers include it in the budget.

Neighboring states have taken their own steps to attract more people to child care.

Maine offers child care providers a monthly stipend of up to $625. Vermont reimburses eligible state employees for some child care costs. And Massachusetts has a pilot program that offers financial support to child care providers.

Neither candidate responded to the Bulletin’s question about whether they supported these specific measures. They also did not respond when asked whether they would support continuing New Hampshire’s pilot grant program beyond a year.

Craig said in an email that she supports “reducing costs through property tax exemptions for child care facilities and providing incentives to increase the number of child care workers.”

During the pandemic, the state has directed pandemic relief funds that will no longer be available in the future to child care providers for worker bonuses and other investments.

Ayotte cited the need to “upgrade” the child care profession and look beyond state government to improve access.

“As governor, Kelly will work with community colleges and universities to provide additional training and business skills to support child care as a career path in New Hampshire,” her campaign said in an email.

Ayotte also said she would work with the private sector to support employer child care programs and look for opportunities for nonprofits to add or expand child care. At the forum, she cited the Boys and Girls Club of Nashua’s $10 million campaign to improve its childcare offerings.

“This is not an easy task, but we all have to work together,” Ayotte said at the forum.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

SUPPORT