Focus-19

Childcare needs rise as states reopen

Requests for childcare assistance are on the rise at 2-1-1 helplines. The steady increase in requests for childcare during May coincides with states reopening after COVID-related shutdowns. In many communities, childcare services are scheduled to reopen in later phases than businesses. The lag between Americans returning to work and availability of childcare may help explain the increase in requests. As the chart shows, requests for childcare dropped sharply when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and stay-at-home orders were issued by many states and localities, but as states started reopening, calls for childcare assistance grew. Childcare needs may continue to rise as more areas across the country reopen. The chart shows daily requests for childcare received by 2-1-1s in 26 states between January 1 – May 25, 2020. Mouse over the bars in the chart below to see the number of requests received each day. States included in the analysis were AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, HI, IA, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NJ, NV, NY, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, WI and WY.

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