Lake Houston - Humble - Kingwood | December 2023

From the cover

Lake Houston-area parents face child care obstacles

The overview

Child care seats vs. eligible children in the Lake Houston area, 2022 Number of child care seats

Number of eligible children

According to a July report issued by research and advocacy nonprot Children at Risk, a third of all ZIP codes in Texas qualify as “child care deserts,” meaning there are at least three times more children eligible for early child care than the number of child care seats available. In the Greater Houston area, 45 ZIP codes qualify as child care deserts, according to data provided by Children at Risk. Additionally, the accessibility of subsidized child care seats saw a roughly 29% decrease from 2020 to 2022, falling from an average of 38.1 seats per 100 children of low- income working parents to 27.2 seats. To determine whether a ZIP code classied as a child care desert, Children at Risk ocials used 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data to dene a child as eligible for care if they were age 5 or younger and both of their parents were employed. In the Lake Houston area as dened by Children at Risk, two ZIP codes qualify as child care deserts: 77365 and 77345. Kim Kofron, Children at Risk’s senior director of education, said access to child care has been a problem throughout the state for decades, but she said the issue was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kofron said Texas had around 17,000 early child centers before the pandemic hit in 2020. While that number had fallen to roughly 12,000 in 2021, the number of providers has since rebounded to around 14,000. Despite the increase, Kofron said more than 70,000 kids throughout the state are currently on waitlists to receive early child care. She noted many of the children live in low-income areas, which can sometimes make it more dicult to nd nearby child care options.

1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000

500

77044

77339

77338

77345

77346 77357

77365

77396

High access to child care: 76% or more of eligible children have access to a child care seat Moderate access to child care: 34%-75% of eligible children have access to a child care seat Child care desert: 33% or less of eligible children have access to a child care seat Child care desert The Lake Houston area is home to two ZIP codes referred to as child care deserts, meaning there are at least three times as many children eligible for early child care than there are available seats. Child care deserts in the Lake Houston area, 2022

77357

99 TOLL

77365

Lake Houston area

1314

77345

77339

77338

1960

77346

LAKE HOUSTON

77396

77044

SOURCES: CHILDREN AT RISK, U.S. CENSUS BUREAUCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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