by Camalot Todd, Nevada Current
Nevada ranks 47th in child well-being among all states, only ahead of Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico, according to the 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book.
The report released Wednesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzes household data from the previous four years to assess how children and families are faring across the nation.
The report notes that the lack of affordable and accessible child care forces parents to either bear the sometimes exorbitant cost of child care services or miss or quit their jobs to fill the role themselves.
“The child care crisis in Nevada can no longer be seen as merely a family issue. It is an issue that impacts the entire state and warrants consistent, sustainable investments to see the educational and economic growth necessary in Nevada.” said Jamelle Nance, Director of Strong Start Initiatives at Children’s Advocacy Alliance, Nevada’s member of the KIDS COUNT network.
The report ranks states by 16 factors in four categories: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors like children living in high-poverty areas and children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma. Nevada ranks 48th nationally in economic well-being, 46th in education, 38th in health, and 44th in family and community factors.
The annual cost of child care in Nevada is $13,877, and around 28,000 children in Nevada live in families that faced job-related disruptions, including job loss and quitting due to childcare issues, according to the report.
Married couples in Nevada have the highest child care cost burden of any state at 15% of household income, and the burden on single mothers in Nevada – 38% of income – is higher than in 43 states.
The poor compensation for childcare workers and 72% of Nevadans living in a child care desert contribute to the crisis, according to the report.
Children’s Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit organization in the state and the Nevada Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT grantee, advocates for increased funding for publicly subsidized child care programs, expanding access to quality early childhood education, implementing policies that support working parents, and collaboration between the public and private sectors.
