- 77% of Utah families live in child care deserts.
- Legislation aims to provide grants up to $5,000 for starting home-based child care.
- Maternity leave expansion proposed to improve outcomes for mothers and child development.
Utah’s lawmakers have said time and time again that it is getting increasingly more expensive to live in Utah, and especially difficult for young families.
Many families with young children need to have two incomes in order to stay afloat. Utah, a state known in the past for its fertility and youthfulness, is now struggling with a lack of child care options.
“Utah has been known as one of the best places to raise a family, but for many, that promise feels increasingly out of reach,” said Emily Bell McCormick, founder of The Policy Project.
She continued: “Rising costs and limited options mean parents are facing impossible choices, like delaying having kids, leaving careers, taking on secondary jobs, or working when they would rather raise their children in the home.”
On Thursday, The Policy Project held a press conference with state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to share what the legislators are working on to help make raising a family in Utah more affordable.
The legislators shared four pieces of legislation that they are working on this session dealing with home-based child care, the child tax credit and maternity leave for state employees.
Legislators highlighted that a majority of Utahns live in “child care deserts” and there simply are not enough child care options to meet the state’s needs. It was also pointed out that many of the child care options that do exist are too expensive for the families that need them.
The lawmakers at the press conference were from both parties and both chambers of the state Legislature.
“I am very pleased to be able to chat with my colleagues on something like this. And I know sometimes we don’t get along, but on this we are together,” said Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City.
She acknowledged that this is a complicated issue and there is no one solution; the lawmakers are aiming for a holistic approach.
Addressing Utah’s child care needs
“The first thing that I want to say to our families in the state of Utah is we have heard you, and we are acting,” said Rep. Jason Thompson, R-River Heights. “Child care in Utah is not just strained, it is fundamentally broken.”
During the press conference, lawmakers shared that 77% of Utahns live in child care deserts, places where there aren’t enough licensed child care providers to meet the needs of the families there. This problem is especially significant in rural counties such as Daggett, Piute, Wayne and Rich.
Thompson shared that 64% of Utah families have all available parents working. He added that licensed providers fill only 14% of the need for child care in Utah.
According to McCormick, 43% of working parents would prefer for one parent to be at home, but 74% of Utah parents with children under six years old require two incomes to survive.
“Child care is not a preference for a lifestyle choice. It’s the difference between paying the bills, paying the mortgage, or falling behind; between staying in the workforce or being forced out,” Thompson said.
Home-based child care grants
SB214, Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, would increase the number of child care providers in the state by incentivizing the start of more home-based child care providers.
Escamilla said that the bill “really encompasses and focuses on home-based child care, a lot of people love that, they love to have their neighbors, someone their community, that they know, they trust to take care of their children and to have their children in a home.”
The bill would provide grants of up to $5,000 for those starting home-based child care businesses to help cover expenses related to that business. The grants would come from a pool of $2.3 million, enough to start 1,000 home-based child care businesses.
It would also implement new background check requirements for child care providers and other people involved with the facilities.
This would help set up more child care providers across the state and especially in child care deserts, making it so thousands of children are able to be taken care of by licensed providers. This allows more parents to be able to work.
“In many places, in rural Utah, families do not have of lack of willingness to work, they lack choices” said Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, the bill’s floor sponsor. “Child care is limited, distances are long and parents are too often faced with an all or nothing decision.”
Expanding the Employer Child Care Tax Credit
HB190 would modify the state’s tax credit system for employer-provided child care. The bill is sponsored by Thompson.
This bill would incentivize Utah’s employers to support their employees by providing child care or helping to cover child care.
This legislation would amend Utah’s Employer Child Care Tax Credit to align better with the federal government’s new enhanced Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit.
When the state and federal credits are stacked, large employers can receive a tax credit of up to 50% and small businesses are able to receive up to 80% for all child care expenses paid for employees.
Lawmakers shared that when child care is unaffordable or unavailable then Utah families and employers lose about $1.36 billion a year. This tax credit expansion would help alleviate that.
The bill’s floor sponsor, Sen. Heidi Balderree, R-Saratoga Springs, shared that if just 5% of Utah’s employers participate in helping provide child care then 110,610 working parents would receive support.
“Child care isn’t just a family issue, it’s an economic issue, a workforce issue, and a future of Utah issue,” Balderree said.
Expanding maternity leave for state employees
Sponsored by Rep. Ariel Defay, R-Kaysville, HB329 would expand paid maternity leave for state employees from six weeks to 12 weeks.
The bill would also strengthen protections for pumping breast milk in public and would launch a pilot program allowing local education agencies to provide up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for teachers.
Defay said that extended maternity leave is shown to improve the physical and mental health of mothers. It also positively impacts child development and strengthens workplace retention.
She added that studies show longer maternity leave policy can reduce turnover as much as 70%, “that’s not only good for Utah families, it is good for employers.”
The representative said this bill is “about giving families a better start. It’s about supporting women in the workforce while honoring the importance of early caregiving, and it’s about sending a clear message that Utah is serious about being a state where families can thrive.”
Expanding and increasing the Child Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit Amendments, or HB290, would expand the income eligibility for the state’s Child Tax Credit. This would allow the credit to help a larger number of Utahns.
According to numbers provided at the press conference, 7 out of 10 Americans say it is unaffordable to raise a child.
The bill’s sponsor, Tracy Miller, R-South Jordan, said that many young families in Utah are struggling to afford raising their children. She shared that it is the number one concern she hears from her constituents.
“This bill would put money back in the pockets of thousands of working families,” Miller said. “The tax credit gives families flexibility, it’s a small investment with big results.”