Is there a Worldwide “Childcare Crisis”?

Or have we just forgotten what children need most?

Reports of a “childcare crisis” are bubbling up across America and across the globe. In Texas, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia, Nevada, Florida, Oregon, Arizona, North Dakota, California, Maine, and just about every other state you can think of, “childcare crisis” headlines are trending. The same is true in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere.

So, are there simultaneous childcare crises suddenly cropping up all over the world, or is something bigger going on here? Let’s look first at the details of the so-called “childcare crisis” in my home state of Utah. One article explained the “crisis” this way:

“There are more than 154,000 children under the age of six living in Utah with all available parents in the workforce. But, there are only 54,804 licensed child care spots…statewide. Licensed childcare program capacity is only sufficient to serve about 36% of all children under six whose parents are working.”

From the alarmist tone of the article, it seems we’re meant to assume and that the children not enrolled in licensed daycare institutions are left to wander the streets or binge on household poisons and YouTube videos. But the more likely answer is what the report itself said:

“That means the working families of nearly two-thirds of Utah’s youngest children must rely on alternate arrangements (such as utilizing family members, hiring or sharing a nanny, alternating parent work schedules, using unlicensed childcare providers, or some combination of these).”

So, the bulk of the children not enrolled at institutionalized daycare facilities are likely being taken care of by family members, a hired nanny, or a trusted friend. To most people, this would not constitute a “crisis.” Having family members or trusted friends help care for one’s children is both an economically and emotionally savvy choice.

Reports on the “childcare crisis” consistently assert that licensed childcare facilities are the gold standard in childcare and that if institutionalized care is not accessible, children are suffering. Anna Thomas, policy director at Voices for Utah Children, says that when licensed childcare is less accessible, parents turn “more and more to suboptimal situations” including “unlicensed care, a patchwork of family and friends, or swapping schedules with their spouses.”

Is Institutionalized Care Best for Children?

But is state-sponsored, institutionalized care the best option for children? Are utilizing family and friends, hiring a nanny, or swapping schedules with spouses really “suboptimal” options? What do the experts say?

Erica Komisar, a child development expert with over 25 years in practice, said in 2023, “Institutional care is not and never will be a good option for children under the age of three. There are so many studies which link institutional care from zero to three with increased cortisol stress hormone levels, behavioral issues, anxiety, and increased aggression.”

Komisar advises, “Turn to kinship bonds first. Turn to family members who have a similar investment in your child as you do and who will be in your child’s life going forward. For instance, an aunt or a grandmother or a sister.” She says that a single, consistent surrogate caregiver or nanny, which can be shared with another family “is still a better option than daycare, which is my least favorite option because of the ratio of caregiver to child.”

Komisar explains that turnover in daycare workers is extremely high, and that level of instability isn’t optimal for children. She says, “Babies need quiet, calm, peaceful, playful, secure environments. I can’t emphasize enough that daycare is not that.” 

Similarly, Jenet Erickson, a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies focusing on maternal and child well-being, says,

“Children are ‘hardwired’ to develop within a small group of familiar people and require one-on-one nurturing relationships to develop well…The much bigger groups and more chaotic conditions characteristic of child care settings compared to home and family environments may cause elevated stress levels among some children…Persistently elevated stress during early childhood has been established as a risk factor for adverse developmental outcomes.”

Erickson highlights a longitudinal study demonstrating that while spending time in institutionalized daycare may not be problematic for every child, there were correlations between time spent in institutionalized care and child outcomes:

“By age four-and-a-half, children who had spent more than 30 hours per week in child care had, on average, worse outcomes in every area of social-emotional development—weaker social competence, more behavior problems, and greater conflict with adults—at rates three times higher than their peers.”

So, it appears that the very things being decried as “suboptimal” childcare solutions—utilizing family members, sharing hired nannies, and adjusting parents’ work schedules to maximize time at home—are the very things that experts and data suggest are the best for children.

Dr. Stanley Greenspan, renowned child psychiatrist agrees. He says, “The only way for daycare to be improved is for fewer people to use it.” So according to the experts, the problem may not be that too few children are in institutionalized care, but too many.

Komisar has deftly identified the real crisis. She says, “The effects of maternal absence on our children is a major social issue of our time.” So perhaps the more significant emergency is the diminishing influence of mothers and the catastrophic effects it is having on their children, their posterity, and the world.