WILKESBORO, N.C. — A Wilkes County study found a need for licensed child care, with more than 3,300 children for whom services are not available.
Day care workers say the waitlist for children to get a spot can run three months to a year.
Katy Hinson, co-owner of Play Works Early Care Learning Center, says teacher and staff shortages are the main contributing factors for most day cares.
“There is definitely more need for more quality centers to open or current centers to expand what they can serve, but again, that goes back to the qualified teachers, which is also hard,” Hinson said. “They can go to Walmart and make more, so I feel like it’s a good place that we can start investing in these qualified early child care teachers.”
The Leonard G. Herring Family Foundation funded the study. It examined child care programs in the county from 2007 to 2022.
The study also found that the price of child care is a barrier for many families, stating that licensed early child care costs too much for the average family.
To learn more about child care resources around the state, click here.