Child care isn’t easy to find or pay for in Montana. While research shows that lack of affordable child care options has major impacts on the state’s economy and workforce, Montana lawmakers walked out of the 2021 legislative session with fundamental disagreements over how to address the issue.

Mornings for Rose and George in their sunny, toy-cluttered two-bedroom apartment in the Gallatin Valley are full of ups and downs.

George spends the morning with his mother because Rose works nights at a commercial cleaning job. It’s flexible, which is important for a single parent like Rose. She can add shifts when money is tight and work around daytime appointments.

But most child care providers are only open during regular business hours.

“Honestly, there aren’t a lot of those kinds of jobs, unless you work in a fancy office building or a hospital you won’t get those kinds of hours,” Rose says.

Rose’s struggle to pay for and find child care in Montana is not unique. According to a Montana Department of Labor and Industry Report Since last November, 53% of children in the state who need care outside their home will not find a place in a licensed child care center.

Rose and George are domestic violence survivors, so they are identified by their middle name in this story. After fleeing their old home in Oregon, they now rely on public assistance to pay their rent, buy food and make ends meet.

“I’m counting a few cents. I never thought I would be put in that position, but you know how most people, when they’re like, “Do you want your dime,” and most people are like, ah no. I’m like, yeah, I want my dime, ”Rose said.

Rose is eligible for a state grant to help pay for childcare, but she can’t use it for the babysitter she hired. It can only be used to pay certified providers.

“There are just, there are so many complications all the time. I don’t have a break.

The Montana governor and the Republican-majority state legislature focused on economic development during the 2021 session by reducing taxes and reducing business regulations. GOP leaders say if businesses are successful and people have more money in their pockets, it will help parents pay for child care.

But child care advocates like Tori Sproles say the state needs to take a more direct approach.

“Right now, I think the most important thing for suppliers is just economic development.”

Sproles, provider services coordinator at the Bozeman Child Care Connections area, says Montana has been a “child care desert” for a long time. Child Care Connections is a Montana-based non-profit organization funded in part by the state’s health department that provides support to parents and providers who research and operate child care businesses.

Sproles says a major factor contributing to the lack of child care services is financial and emotional strain on providers.

“You know, we, as early childhood professionals, are expected to meet the same kinds of standards as even an elementary school teacher. However, we are not even shutting down public school teachers’ salaries.

Sproles said she had hoped lawmakers would remove barriers from homeowners associations for child care providers operating in residential areas, and insurance laws that make doing business difficult. But these proposals were unsuccessful.

Research shows that the quality of a child’s early childhood care and education can make all the difference, from their academic performance to their income as adults.

Sproles says child care pays dividends as children grow older and the Montanans not only need more child care, they need better quality care for their children.

“We can have slots, but if we don’t pay our child care providers, you know, enough, what’s the balance?”

Sproles says providers can’t charge more because parents can’t pay more.

The state Department of Labor has found that the average annual cost of infant care in Montana is nearly $ 13,000, which is double the cost of college tuition in the state.

Lawmakers introduced several bills during the 2021 legislative session aimed at making child care more accessible, including creating a provider subsidy program and expanding eligibility for child care. state childcare scholarship program. None of these bills has moved forward.

Representative Alice Buckley, a Democrat from Bozeman, says she is surprised more policy makers are not talking about the child care issue.

“We’ve spent all of our sessions thinking about what economic development looks like in this state and how we’re going to chart our course from here, what it looks like to get Montana back to work. And I think it’s really exciting for me, I think it’s exciting for everyone here in the building. And yes, there is that missing piece of child care.

Governor Greg Gianforte signed one of Buckley’s bills to allow candidates for public office to use campaign contributions for child care.

Gianforte has vetoed his proposal to use private funds to create a task force focused on the impact of child care services on the workforce and how businesses can create child care centers on site for employees. The bill had the support of the Montana Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders.

Gianforte wrote in his veto letter that Montana “has never had more resources available” to address the child care issue.

The administration cites $ 152 million that the state has received from recent federal stimulus packages that will go to child care for one-off improvements to equipment and infrastructure, the creation of day-care centers in the workplace, license fees and employee training.

Gianforte’s budget manager Kurt Alme said: “There is substantial federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services that we are already using to help cope with child care deserts and help guarantee affordable and accessible child care.

Child care advocates say federal funding is helping. But Sarah Peterson, of Child Care Connections, says it’s not a long-term solution.

“It will be something once the federal funding is gone that we will have to fight again, probably in our next session, to put it back in the state budget.”

As policymakers debate how best to improve access to child care, data shows major economic implications related to the issue.

In 2020, under the administration of former Governor Steve Bullock, the state labor department found in a study Among Montana parents who have trouble finding child care, 22% ended up turning down a job offer, 15% went from full-time to part-time, and 12% left their jobs because of the challenge.

Firms with a predominantly female workforce were more likely to report a lack of affordable child care, and at least half reported an impact on recruitment and retention. This same research found that Montana’s economy loses over $ 230 million each year due to inadequate child care, families lose $ 145 million in lost wages, and businesses lose $ 55 million due to declining worker productivity.

Mike Halligan is a former Democratic state lawmaker and now executive director of the Washington Companies, a Missoula-based company that employs approximately 1,800 people.

He testified in favor of Buckley’s bill to study child care in the workplace. He says the Republicans’ tax cuts are a good start, but it’s not enough.

“Economic tax incentives to reopen the economy, you know, aren’t the complete answer if you’re looking at a long-term solution.”

Republicans in the 67th Legislature championed a policy to increase the number of children providers can care for, from one caregiver for six children to one caregiver for eight children for home day care.

Critics say this is the wrong approach because it could lower the quality of child care services and lead to more provider burnout.

For Governor Gianforte, it’s about creating more jobs at all levels in Montana.

“A big chunk of our budget was spent on creating more trades scholarships to, again, give people the skills they need to earn more so they can earn more. can afford things like child care.

Rob Grunewald is an economist at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, which contributed to the State Labor Department’s study on child care last fall. He says that access to child care must often precede a job search.

“Supporting access to quality child care can help these families find jobs, earn more and move up that income ladder.”

Grunewald says the lack of child care is having a disproportionate impact.

“While inadequate child care affects a wide range of Montanais, low-income households and Native Americans bear the heaviest burden compared to white and higher-income households.”

Rose, the single mother from Gallatin Valley, struggled to find the right person to take care of her son, George.

George is not a typical kid. He suffered trauma and has behavioral issues because of it. Rose was recently advised by a pediatrician to get George tested for an autism spectrum disorder. He needs patience and understanding.

Rose doesn’t want anyone looking after him. She wants someone who will treat her child the way she does.

“You will do anything, no matter what it is, to make this little baby smile, to be safe and protected, and to have everything he needs to grow up and love being a child. Grow up to be a healthy, balanced and wonderful adult. “

Rose continues to juggle work, child care, and the stress of supporting her family on her own.