Bright Futures AZ
Providing families access to child care not only improves children’s development and well-being, but is foundational to a thriving economy. When families have access to affordable and available child care, they are able to work and businesses have a more reliable workforce. However, many families in Arizona struggle with finding available care that they can afford.
Disruptions in child care cause a $4.7B economic disruption to Arizona’s families, employers, and state economy each year, with families losing $3B in lost earnings and businesses losing $958 million in reduced revenue and increased hiring costs.
- As many as 25% of Arizona children need child care, but do not have access.
- Over the next 10 years, the need for child care is expected to grow by 20%.
- Child care costs for a family should not exceed 7% of a family’s income according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, but in Arizona the average family pays 17%.
Governor Hobbs is proposing a robust child care initiative that aims to:
- Decrease Child Care Costs for Arizona Families
- Increase Child Care Availability
- Address Early Childhood Education Workforce Needs
- Support Child Care Providers
Bright Futures AZ includes:
- Creating a public private partnership to share child care costs among the state, businesses and families
- Creating a grant program for Out of School time (youth ages 5-12)
- Providing coaching and support to providers that wish to become licensed
- Creating a corporate tax credit for businesses who create and sustain new child care slots
- Creating a web tool for families to find available child care
- Providing child care scholarships for early childhood educators
- Partnering with Local First to support more Arizonans to become Early Childhood Education educators and remove child care as a barrier to work
- Expanding the microbusiness loan program to include child care providers
Read the details of the Bright Futures AZ proposal