Across Texas, demand for child care has begun to outpace supply. There are stories of frustrated parents, stressed daycare providers, and in some cases, waiting lists. Subsidies designed to help working families are being overwhelmed. For many parents, affordable, quality care has become a luxury instead of a fundamental, basic necessity many have presumed to be guaranteed.
At our preschool and daycare, we see this imbalance every day. We meet families anxious for stability and teachers eager to serve them, but the math simply doesn’t add up. Child care centers across the state are closing their doors because the funding they receive is not enough to keep up with costs. As a result, “child care deserts” are spreading rapidly. In Houston alone, 43 child care deserts have already been identified, and more than half of low-income children under six live in these underserved areas.
The consequences ripple far beyond early learning classrooms. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 70,000 working-age Americans each month stay home from work because of child care issues. In Texas, where public education begins at kindergarten, the gap for families with children under five is especially severe. Access to pre-K, whether publicly funded or tuition-based, is inconsistent from one community to the next, leaving too many families without options.
The data tell a sobering story. As of 2024, Texas had 8,400 licensed facilities capable of serving about 1 million children, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. That sounds promising until you look closer. Licensing capacity doesn’t equal staffed capacity. Many centers can’t hire enough caregivers to serve the number of children they’re licensed for, because maintaining proper teacher-to-student ratios is both essential and expensive.
Infant care, in particular, requires more staff and specialized spaces, yet those spots are the hardest to find and the most costly to maintain. And, importantly, the data don’t show how many of those “available” seats are actually open or accessible to families in need.
Organizations have been sounding the alarm and rightly so. Texas’ economy depends on a workforce that can show up. That’s impossible when tens of thousands of parents are forced out of the job market simply because they cannot find or afford care for their children.
There is hope on the horizon. Lawmakers are considering new investments to stabilize and expand child care access statewide. This could be the turning point Texas needs. But funding alone won’t solve everything. We need smarter data, stronger partnerships, and a shared commitment to treating early childhood education not as an afterthought, but as the foundation of our state’s future.
At our daycare and preschool facility, we’re committed to being part of the solution by expanding access, supporting our teachers, and working with policymakers and families to reimagine what child care can look like in Texas. Investing in child care is not optional. It’s essential, so we’re investing in our families and the future.