FAQs

A child care desert is a place where families can’t find the care they need. It’s defined as a census tract with more than 50 children under age five and either no child care providers or more than three times as many children as available licensed slots. The KPB meets this definition.

There are several reasons that KPB is a child care desert. The biggest is cost. While operating costs for child care providers can be very high — as high as $1,759 a month per toddler on the Kenai Peninsula, according to research by the Alaska Department of Health — wages remain low. Combined with insufficient public investment and outdated policies for providers, the result is a child care environment that leaves families and providers struggling.

Challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated the issue. The Department of Health estimates 10% of child care centers in Alaska closed during the pandemic and many never reopened.

Finding affordable child care can be a challenge. Peninsula Kids Now doesn’t connect parents to child care resources, but other organizations can help. Check out thread for information on child care resources near you.

Child care providers face the same rising costs as everyone else. This includes traditional overhead costs like utilities and rent, but also essential food and supplies. The biggest expense for providers is wages.

On the Kenai Peninsula, home-based child care providers spend an average of $1,070 each month per child. At child care centers, this cost can be as high as $1,759.

You can read more about the true cost of child care in this study by the Alaska Department of Health.

Licensed providers meet state standards for safety, training and staff-to-child ratios. They’re inspected regularly.

Unlicensed child care usually comes from family, friends or neighborhood babysitters. These arrangements are informal and not required to meet the same standards.

Getting licensed takes time. Child care providers can wait as long as a year to be approved for a license, even when all standards are met. Inconsistent state policies can make it even harder. These barriers delay or prevent people from offering care that’s desperately needed.

Child care isn’t just a social service. It’s an economic necessity. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation estimates child care disruptions cost Alaska $165 million every year in lost productivity and revenue. Businesses face staffing gaps. Families miss work or pass up promotions. Some even leave the Kenai Peninsula Borough entirely. These disruptions don’t just hurt families — they ripple outward. Reduced wages lead to reduced household spending, which means less money flows into local businesses and less tax revenue for our communities. Child care keeps workers at work and that keeps our economy stronger, more stable and more productive.

You’ve probably already experienced the impacts of the child care crisis. It can mean reduced hours at your favorite coffee shop. Longer wait times at restaurants or the DMV. It also means employers, from tour providers and boat charters to retail stores, can lose out on business in peak seasons when parents must leave work urgently. The availability of child care should matter to you for the same reason a strong economy does: it improves quality of life.

We use data from reputable sources such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s "Untapped Potential in Alaska" report, thread Alaska and state and federal agencies.

Peninsula Kids Now is a grassroots effort made up of parents, child care providers, community leaders and advocates in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. We are committed to creating solutions for the child care crisis and building a stronger, more resilient local economy.

In 2023, Governor Dunleavy created an Alaska Task Force on Child Care to create a plan to make child care more affordable. The task force made many key recommendations, but many have not yet been fulfilled. You can read their latest report here.

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You can also invite us to come speak to your organization. We would love to share more about the challenges facing child care in the KPB.