'Desperation': Child care struggle worsens in rural U.S.

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) — A shortage of child care in the U.S. has become so acute that it’s reaching far into rural communities, including one northwestern Oregon county where future embryos are in line for a spot at Amy Atkinson’s nursery and preschool.

“We have children that have not been implanted yet that are on our waitlist,” said Atkinson, referring to in vitro fertilization. “It’s desperation.”

Just past Bumble Art Studio's rainbow-painted entryway, cubbies are filled with diapers and tiny backpacks. Every crib and little plastic chair is spoken for in the only licensed center offering infant care in Oregon's historic port town of Astoria, where the wide mouth of the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Parents trying to enroll children in the facility can spend months or even years on a 40-family waitlist.

From Oregon to New York, demand for child care far exceeds supply. Families are growing increasingly desperate as providers deal with staffing shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as well as historically low pay worsened by inflation.

“I haven’t even been able to answer my phone because it’s been nonstop,” said Angie Jannusch, the center’s co-director along with Atkinson. “We keep taking all of the emails and dumping them into a waitlist folder ... we’re busting at the seams. There’s nothing available."

Half of U.S. residents live in child care deserts where fewer than a third of children have access to a slot at a licensed facility, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that has published reports on the issue. Access challenges have forced many parents to change jobs, reduce their hours or quit altogether.

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