Mexico School District

Commitment to Community, or C2C, along with a multi-sector team of community stakeholders, is guiding Mexico in research on the current childcare and early education landscape, fiscal resources available, and the true cost of implementing a high-quality, early childhood system that meets the community’s needs. A child care and early education action plan, including community- and data-driven strategies, action steps, partners, and resources, will serve as a roadmap as the team moves into the implementation phase to support a high-quality, accessible early childhood system in Mexico.

Key Findings

The number of children who need care is higher than the number of available slots. More than 250 additional infant and toddler slots are needed. Capacity for kids ages 3-5 is sufficient for the needs of the community.

On average, families are paying 17% or more of their income to cover the cost of care.

Current, unaffordable annual tuitions are not enough to cover the true cost of high-quality care.

Community Priorities

The Research

Child Care Is A Workforce Issue

28%

of surveyed employers report that employees’ access to child care greatly or significantly affects their business

93%

of surveyed employers report employees doing at least one of the following during the past year: terminating their employment, permanently changing their work hours/availability, trading shifts with co-workers, or otherwise temporarily changing their work hours/availability, taking time off to fill child care gaps, candidates declining employment offers, or other.

“It is very hard to hire and keep employees with young children. I’ve been in this business 21 years and 75% of the time, when an employee goes on maternity leave, they do not return because they cannot find local child care.”

– Employer

Quotes and survey data are drawn from a non-representative convenience sample of Mexico School District residents and employees, ECE Directors and Owners in the region, and senior leaders of employers in the region.

Families Lack Access to Child Care

The number of infants and toddlers who need care is higher than the number of available slots, with 275 kids who do not have a slot. Pre-K and other preschool capacity for kids ages 3-5 is sufficient for the needs of the community. This data is based on 70% of the estimated total number of children in the area, aligned with policy research estimates used by the State of Missouri.

“The current provider I use is closed on Mondays, childcare is expensive for one kid and I have twins so it’s double the price wherever they go. I don’t qualify for childcare assistance either. Also[,] even if you [are] late one min you have to owe 8 min of time.”

-Mexico School District Parent

Infant & Toddler (Birth-2 Years)

32%

Kids Served

407 Kids
132 Slots

Pre-Kindergarten (4-5 Years)

100%

Kids Served

133 Kids
217 Slots

Other Preschool (3-5 Years)

100%

Kids Served

407 Kids
552 Slots

THE COST OF CHILD CARE IS UNAFFORDABLE FOR FAMILIES

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), child care is considered affordable if it costs families no more than 7% of their income. With median household income of $54,408, local families are paying 17% or more of their income to cover the cost of care for one child.

% income parents pay for Infant & Toddler Care

28%

% income parents pay for Preschool

19%

* 7% affordability threshhold

Median Household Income (MHI)

$54,408

Infant & Toddler parent tuition

$ 15,210

Preschool parent tuition

$ 10,400

Affordable Cost Level ( 7% MHI )

$3,809

More Resources ARE NEEDED to Provide Affordable High-Quality Care

In addition to being unaffordable to families, the annual cost of tuition does not cover the true cost of high-quality care for providers. Additional funds from other stakeholders are needed to support high-quality care.

Total Cost: $21,775

Infant & Toddler

$3,809

$17,966

Total Cost: $12,739

Preschool

$3,809

$8,930

Investment Gap

Affordable Cost for Parents

“[Biggest challenges are] the cost of operating the daycare and the wear and tear on the building and equipment, and finding the time to do the work that needs to be done without staying late away from my own family.”

– Provider in Mexico School District

Reach out

To learn more about the exciting work of the Mexico community, contact C2C to hear about the leaders and organizations involved.

DeAnn Gould, Volunteer Coordinator, C2C
DeAnn.Gould@partnersrural.org

Community planning, research, and facilitation by Child Care Leadership Lab; in addition to supply building initiative co-design and implementation with community partners. Data compiled and presented by IFF in partnership with Kids Win Missouri. Thank you to our partner C2C. We also thank our funding partners Children’s Trust Fund and Upward Momentum.

Mexico_CmtySlides_ALLdata_PDF

Mexico School District