By Tess McShane, Director of Housing & Childcare
Colorado is currently ranked 8th in the country for most expensive childcare, and 11th for the most expensive state to have a child. While it is recommended that parents spend no more than 12% of their income on childcare to avoid being cost burdened, an average Colorado family will spend 38% of their annual income on childcare for an infant and 4-year old.
The Common Sense Institute (CSI) released a new report, Unlocking Work: Impacts of Improving Access to Affordable Child Care, which explores data around childcare access and affordability for Colorado families and opportunities for local governments and childcare partners to explore solutions that enable the sustainability of the childcare business model and increase productivity of the local workforce. As CSI noted, “a well-functioning, affordable child care system is essential to the economy. Yes, access to an affordable quality of child care continues to be a pressing concern in Colorado, hampering many parents from entering the workforce or remaining fully or consistently employed.”
Key Findings of the Report:
Licensed childcare slots are lagging
- There are 2 licensed childcare slots for every 3 children in a household where all parents are in the labor force, creating a deficit of 88,500 slots in Colorado
- 8 front range counties, home to 80% of the state’s population, have deficits in childcare slots ranging from 21% to 60% of the number of children who could use them
Childcare challenges are sidelining parents
- 10,200 mothers are sidelined from the labor force due to childcare could generate 3.787 billion in GDP and create 29,000 total jobs if their childcare issues were resolved and chose to return to employment
- Nearly 1 in every 5 moms with children under 6 (or 60,000 of 330,000) do not participate in the labor force but will once their child reaches school age
Large numbers of recent bills presents some opportunities to address costs
- There presents a need to educate local leaders on 25 recent state bills that can help support local governments to improve the financial sustainability of the childcare business model
The report also explored region-specific data. In thinking how this impacts businesses locally, the report found key data for parents in Jefferson County:
- Parents with children under 6 make up 16% of the workforce in Jefferson County
- Jefferson County currently has an estimated 3,231 mothers who are sidelined from the workforce
- Jefferson County only has 75.6% of the needed licensed childcare spots for children under 6, and deficit of 6,062 spots for children under 6
Learn more and read the full report here.
The Arvada Chamber’s B.O.L.D. 2026 Initiative includes Childcare as local employers are seeing childcare capacity as a barrier to recruiting and retaining top talent. The B.O.L.D. 2026 goal seeks to increase childcare capacity to enable caregivers to join/rejoin the workforce and give children the quality early learning experience they need to thrive. The initiative convenes businesses, childcare partners, and childcare providers to explore actionable solutions for businesses to support their workforce. Learn more about the B.O.L.D. 2026 Childcare Initiative, and resources and programs for employers.
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