Ohio’s Child Care Crisis is Front Page News

The child care crisis in Ohio is gaining statewide attention. A recent article written by Jessie Balmert of the Gannett and USA Today Network was published across newspapers throughout Ohio, shining a spotlight on how rising child care costs are forcing families to make increasingly impossible choices.

The article highlights that for many families, the struggle begins even before their babies arrive. Sara McLaughlin of Troy was still pregnant when she placed her twin boys on a waiting list for Head Start. It took another six months after Ruzi and Brooks were born to secure spots in the free federal preschool program — a program that frequently faces staffing shortages and funding freezes.

“I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Head Start,” McLaughlin said. Her only backup option is her 86-year-old grandmother.

Stories like Sara’s reflect the broader reality across the state. Nearly three-fourths of parents say child care is expensive, according to Groundwork Ohio polling.

The average cost of sending an infant and a four-year-old to a child care center in Ohio has climbed to $25,532 — a 16% increase in just one year, according to an analysis from Child Care Aware of America.

Lynanne Gutierrez, President and CEO of Groundwork Ohio, emphasized that while incremental improvements matter, they are not enough to address the scale of the crisis.

“All progress is good progress. But without public investment and structural changes, child care will remain too expensive and out of reach for most Ohio families,” she said.

“We’re not nearly going to be able to meet the demands that families have in any realistic amount of time with those one-by-one solutions,” Gutierrez added. “It’s not that we should stop. It’s just, could you imagine if we had that along with a strong public investment? Then we’d really be cooking with gas.”

Business leaders are also stepping forward. According to Untapped Potential, a report by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in partnership with The Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Groundwork Ohio, Ohio loses $5.48 billion each year in untapped taxes and employer earnings due to the child care crisis. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has made access to affordable, reliable child care one of its top priorities.

“Businesses understand that child care is a barrier to them receiving the best talent,” said Justin Barnes of the Chamber. “They want to contribute to a solution.”

And while some lawmakers have supported pilot programs and tax credits to expand employer-sponsored child care or test new models, the scale of the challenge remains daunting. Ohio is facing a potential $600 million child care funding shortfall when temporary federal relief dollars expire — a cliff that threatens families, providers, and employers alike.

Child care providers are already under strain. “It’s never been more expensive,” said Vanessa Freytag, former president and CEO of 4C for Children. Providers face rising costs for diapers, utilities, food, and rent — multiplied across dozens of children — while families shoulder more of the burden.

State leaders recognize that eligibility for child care assistance remains among the lowest in the country. “We want to invest in our low-income families,” said Kara Wente of the Ohio Department of Children & Youth. “We’re still one of the lowest states… we’re always trying to push that up. Unfortunately, we were not successful.”

In addition to spotlighting the experiences of families and providers, the story also noted that several Ohio lawmakers are voicing concern about the escalating child care crisis.

Leaders such as Rep. Andrea White (Kettering), Sen. Michele Reynolds (Canal Winchester), and Rep. Mark Johnson (Chillicothe) acknowledged the strain that rising costs place on families and the urgent need to strengthen Ohio’s child care system. Their comments reflect a growing, bipartisan awareness that the current approach is unsustainable — and that meaningful, long-term solutions are overdue.

These stories, data points, and perspectives all point to the same conclusion: Ohio’s child care system is stretched beyond its limits, and families are paying the price. Without meaningful, sustained public investment, the crisis will only deepen — threatening family stability, workforce participation, and the long-term success of Ohio’s youngest children.

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