A severe shortage of child care options in Pinal County is forcing families to seek care outside the county and could hamper economic development, according to experts who presented to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday. As companies like LG, Procter & Gamble, and Lucid Motors establish operations in the region, the lack of child care infrastructure threatens to become an even more pressing issue.
Pinal County has a 67% gap between available child care slots and demand. Without action, this gap is projected to grow to 77% by 2029 if no additional child care slots are added.
“Families are leaving Pinal County and traveling to Southeast Maricopa areas for child care options,” said Dawn Wilkinson, contractor working with Enhancing Early Childhood. “Many stay there to work because there’s no child care in Pinal County.”
The crisis stems from multiple factors, including staffing shortages and an unsustainable business model. The system was already strained after the state pulled back most child care assistance funding during the 2008 recession – money that was never fully reinvested. According to Katrina Devinny, Pinal Regional Director for First Things First, the COVID-19 pandemic then “ripped the bandaid off” these existing problems, making it even harder to find workers and maintain operations.
Child care workers in Arizona earn a median wage of $14.78-$15.00 per hour, just above minimum wage. Most child care facilities operate as small businesses, setting their own flat rates based on local market averages rather than actual operational costs. While the Department of Economic Security offers sliding-scale assistance to eligible families, most parents bear the full cost of care. According to Wilkinson, this creates a “broken business model” where centers can’t charge what it actually costs to provide quality care because parents couldn’t afford those rates.
According to federal figures, for child care to be considered affordable it should cost no more than 7% of a family’s income. In Pinal County, where the median family income is $73,313, infant care costs $10,602 annually – consuming 14.5% of a typical family’s income. To make current child care costs affordable at 7% of income, a family would need to earn $151,450 annually.
“As we bring in better businesses to pay better, then parents are able to pay more for those services,” said Supervisor Jeffrey McClure, suggesting that economic development could help address the affordability gap.
“Nobody can provide better care for their kids than Mom and Dad, and I put Mom first,” noted Supervisor Mike Goodman. “But we’re in a situation now to where it takes two members of the family to work to actually provide a decent living for themselves and their family.”
Early childhood funding in Arizona comes from multiple sources, according to Devinny, Pinal Regional Director for First Things First. Created by Arizona voters in 2006, First Things First receives tobacco tax revenue and operates as a state agency outside the general fund, partnering with local communities to support kindergarten readiness programs. The Department of Economic Security manages federal Child Care Development Block Grant funding for child care assistance and workforce support, while the Department of Health and Human Services handles licensing. Despite these funding streams, presenters noted there are currently no state general fund dollars dedicated to early childhood education.
The presenters outlined several potential solutions to the funding problem based on successful programs in other regions, including public-private partnerships and dedicated funding streams. The Pima Early Education Program Scholarships (PEEPs) receives $30.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to provide scholarships to qualifying preschoolers ages 3 to 5, serving over 1,600 children in the 2023-2024 school year.
Board members expressed interest in exploring funding options, including tribal gaming grants. Supervisor Mike Miller noted he would consult with Supervisor Rex Scott from Pima County about their approach, referencing a previous letter of support sent to the governor on early childhood development.
