Ongoing drop in childcare providers since COVID-19 Pandemic across Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Across the state, Alaska is continuing to see a dwindling childcare sector. According to Thread, a non-profit focusing on improving access to affordable and high-quality childcare, the state has lost 25% of its childcare providers since the pandemic, and said new ones aren’t opening fast enough.

“We’re really concerned,” Stephanie Berglund, the CEO of Thread, said. “The lack of supply of childcare is putting more stress on families and businesses than ever before … Businesses aren’t able to recruit and retain the workforce that they need and ultimately our economy suffers.”

According Thread’s 2023 Economic Impact Report, 14% of Alaskans have had to quit their jobs in the past due to childcare access.

Additionally, the non-profit reports that 51% of families cannot work due to the cost, availability, or quality of childcare options available.

“It’s really hard for families,” Emily Carroll, a mom of two, said. “We rely on childcare so that we can go to work and get positive members of our society and, you know, be engaged citizens. And when your child care center gives you notice that they’re going to close in two weeks, it’s a really hard thing to do.”

Carroll is currently on her third childcare provider for her four-year-old son, after she told Alaska’s News Source that the first two closed. She also relies on her family and friend network to help watch her 7-month-old son when she works.

“That’s the only thing that we can find that’s available right now,” Carroll said.

Somedays, Carroll said, she also has to take her son to work with her.

Carroll is not alone. According to Thread, 57% of families who have a child under the age of 13 struggle to find childcare.

That number, according to Thread, jumps to 63% for children aged 5 and under.

According to the Governor’s Task Force report generated from the Alaska Department of Health, three out of every five Alaskans live in a “childcare desert” or areas with limited access to licensed childcare facilities.

The largest reason for that barrier, according to Thread, is a lack of providers or availability. A lack of funding, Berglund said, creates that problem.

“There’s a gap in operating costs for childcare programs,” Berglund said. “The true cost of what it is to operate a childcare program, including high costs for facilities and high costs for staffing and other materials to support a high-quality program. That’s more than what families are paying and the price of childcare. So, that gap often is unfortunately made up by low wages for our early educators.”

According to Carroll, her son’s previous daycare center faced struggles with retaining staff and had a lot of turnover in his classroom.

“We love that second center we were at, they just had really high turnover in workers and eventually had to also close,” Carroll said.

Alaska’s News Source reached out to Senator Dan Sullivan, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Representative Nick Begich regarding the shortages, but has only heard back from Senator Sullivan, who told Alaska’s News Source the shortage is a problem seen nationwide.

“I’m hopeful. We had a really big strategy meeting of all the Republican senators on this budget reconciliation bill. I’m hopeful that as part of that big package, we could have some significant provisions that address that,” Sullivan said.

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