Lack of access to affordable, quality childcare forces many Dallas parents to choose between joining the workforce, remaining out of it, or piecing together less-than-ideal options. This issue impacts the entire state, and many cities are beginning to examine policies that could make it easier to open childcare facilities or reduce the overhead that already-operating facilities incur.
That includes Dallas, where City Council will address a measure on Wednesday that would reduce property taxes for qualifying childcare facilities by 50 percent. The exemption became an option when voters approved Proposition 2 during last November’s constitutional amendment election. The council will also consider amending the city code to make opening a childcare or adult care facility in residential areas easier. (City staffers say that the city’s aging population also means that adult day programs—especially for those aged 65 and older—will eventually become equally scarce.)
This discussion about clearing a path for more childcare is encouraging to Jarrad Toussant, Senior Vice President of Education and Workforce at the Dallas Regional Chamber.
“We think of the childcare workforce as the workforce behind the workforce,” he says. “We cannot put people into jobs if they have young children to attend to at home. In terms of just the supply of childcare itself, it’s a crisis.”
Dallas has roughly 93,000 children younger than age 5, but the city’s existing childcare facilities only have capacity for 35,000. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that the state loses about $9 billion yearly because of the lack of childcare. Last fall, bipartisan nonprofit Ready Nation said that insufficient childcare impacted parents, businesses, and taxpayers to the tune of $78 billion, $23 billion, and $21 billion, respectively.
The shortage also directly impacts the state’s “middle-skill” workforce—jobs in the healthcare industry and IT. Early Matters Dallas found that 56 percent of the state’s jobs are middle-skill positions, and at least 42,000 of them go unfilled each year. Suppose parents currently unemployed because of inadequate childcare options fill those jobs. In that case, Early Matters estimates it would contribute another $2 billion to the state’s gross domestic product and $120 million in annual sales tax revenue for the D-FW region.
With that in mind, the city began looking at ways to increase the number of facilities by slightly loosening zoning restrictions last year. Current regulations for adult and childcare facilities would stay pretty much the same. However, city staff also recommends removing language requiring facilities to apply for a special use permit to open in a residential neighborhood—an extra step that can cost time and money. It also requires new facilities in residential neighborhoods to be “context sensitive” by limiting height and lot coverage and prohibiting outdoor activities between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. They would also be required to screen dumpsters and parking lots and provide landscape buffers.
The measure passed in the council’s 2023 December Quality of Life Committee meeting. But when it came before the full council later that month, the body voted 8-7 to defer the vote to February 14 and asked the city’s Planning and Urban Design department to gather more community input. Since then, the department has held additional listening sessions and created a webpage where residents can easily access previous meetings and documents.
Whether the measure passes or not, Toussant says these discussions are essential for the city’s economy and the education of its future workforce.
“All the evidence will tell you that one of the best public investments that any type of community can make is in childcare and early childhood,” he says.
It’s something his team at the DRC has studied for years.
“We know that when there’s childcare provided for employees, we see absences decrease by 30 percent and job turnover declines by as much as 60 percent,” he says. “Providing childcare and the availability of childcare is a critical determinant in the overall quality of our workforce.”
Children at Risk’s child care desert map shows significant shortages in West Dallas, southeast Dallas, and Far North Dallas. Toussant says there are over 38 zip codes in the county where demand far outpaces supply. An analysis from the Commit Partnership found that three out of four zip codes have at least 10 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
The shortage would likely be city-wide if not for the prevalence of in-home care from nannies and babysitters in north and east Dallas. Without that option, the number of childcare facilities per child in those areas would also be more scarce.
“The supply isn’t necessarily greater in your higher-income areas, but the options are greater for those families as it relates to nannies and other sorts of in-home support that they can afford,” Toussant says.
But more than removing barriers to entering the childcare market is needed to solve the problem. There are also gaps in the variety of childcare options in the region. There are few resources for parents who work overnight shifts, for instance, or drop-in care for times when a child is slightly sick and cannot go to their normal daycare, Toussant says.
The prevailing wage for childcare workers is also an issue. Many childcare facilities pay a little more than minimum wage, which makes it challenging to provide the required staffing for infant and toddler classes.
“On average, we’re only paying childcare workers about $11 an hour, and that’s largely been how the model has been sustained to date,” Toussant says. “Across the board, what we’re seeing and hearing from child care providers is that the lack of access to quality staff at the wages that they can offer is a limiting factor for communities that are considered child care deserts.”
Compounding the issue is that the pandemic wiped out 400 of Dallas County’s 1,500 childcare programs, according to data from the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children. Another 40 percent indicated last year that they might close in 2024.
“That’s our current baseline—[of] the providers we do have right now in the field, many are on the verge of closure,” Toussant says. “In order to sustain just that level, we need to explore all of the available options—property tax exemptions, permitting, or other avenues—and, at the very least, what we hope we’ll get from that is to mitigate the loss of access in our region.”
There are pockets of related innovation and partnerships happening throughout North Texas. Richardson ISD began offering on-site childcare to help attract teachers. Dallas ISD’s P-TECH program allows students to earn college hours toward degrees in early childhood education or teaching. Parkland launched a partnership with the nonprofit Annie’s Place to provide drop-in care for staff and patients.
“That model is being expanded to Methodist and Baylor Scott & White,” Toussant says. “We’re starting to see these partnerships, but it’s not nearly enough yet.”
For Toussant and others, Wednesday’s discussion—regardless of the outcome—means that we’re finally talking about how the shortage of childcare impacts the city. Whether that conversation is fruitful will depend on who comes to the table and how those plans are articulated to residents.
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