In Alaska, the gap between the need for childcare and the availability of services is growing, according to providers and national data.
An estimated 55% of Alaska children lack reasonable access to child care, according to data compiled by the national nonprofit advocacy group First Five Years Fund. Alaska childcare providers say state and federal funding to support programs is insufficient — and that rising costs mean they are able to offer less and less.
In Alaska, 60% of children have their parents in the workforce. The cost of center-based childcare is an estimated $12,425 and over $11,000 for home-based childcare each year.
Federal and state programs provide funding for childcare and early education, but there is only enough funding to serve a fraction of eligible families in Alaska — and cost and availability of providers range widely across rural and urban regions of the state.
In the Matanuska-Susitna Borough region, Head Start programs that serve children from infancy to age 5 have had to decrease the number of children served by 38% in the past five years due to insufficient funding, said Mark Lackey, executive director of CCS Early Learning, which operates four sites.
Statewide, an estimated 21% of eligible Alaska children from infancy to age 3 are served by Early Head Start, and 52% of eligible children from ages 3 to 5 are served by Head Start statewide in 2025, according to data from the national Office of Head Start.
Alaska’s 17 Head Start programs are funded through various state and federal funding sources. Lackey said Head Start received a 1% cost of living increase in federal funding this year. Federal funds for Head Start totaled $68.6 million this year, plus $13 million in state grants provided through the Alaska Department of Education.
Lackey said federal and state funding have remained flat while costs have increased, including prices for food, utilities, fuel, employee salaries and health insurance.
This fiscal year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $6.4 million for childcare provider recruitment and retention grants that were approved by the Legislature. He approved a total of $20.4 million for childcare assistance. He also vetoed $3.7 million in additional funding for Head Start programs, retaining $13 million this year.
“That funding was crucial,” Lackey said of the vetoed money. “We can’t charge parents any more because they have all of these same inflationary pressures, and childcare already is expensive just to make the bottom lines work out.”
There are no state-licensed childcare centers in Wrangell, where parents depend on friends and family and small operators who take in a few children.
On the Kenai Peninsula, Laurie Mead has been working in early childcare for more than 40 years and operates a licensed home-based child care business, Kyrie N’ Friends, serving 12 children.
“Right now, it’s just gotten harder and harder to find anyone that wants to work in the field of early childhood. It can be very rewarding, but at the same time, it’s high stress, low pay,” she said.
Mead said on average children are in her care for 10 hours a day, and while she wants to keep employees long term to maintain consistency for the children and families, she has to compete with other employers who can offer higher wages and better benefits.
Mead said she has a long waitlist, particularly for infants and toddlers, and some families have signed on to her waitlist as soon as they get pregnant. She said the cost of her daycare — $1,100 for an infant per month — is above what families receive in childcare assistance.
Mead said she wants to see more state investment because childcare is essential for families.
“It’s huge for them because they couldn’t put food on their table if they had one income. They just can’t do it,” she said. “It’s unfortunate, with inflation and things the way they are in America, not just Alaska. It takes two working parents now.”
The economic burden of the childcare gap is felt by households in lost wages, lost revenue for businesses and lost tax revenue.
According to a 2025 analysis from the nonprofit advocacy group Child Care Trust, the earnings loss for households in Alaska over 10 years is an estimated $1.1 billion.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
