New Survey Finds 90% of Wisconsin Residents Believe Finding Child Care is a Problem

Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 -- 10:01 AM

-Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF), announced that a new WisconSays Survey found that 90 percent of Wisconsinites, including those without kids, say finding affordable, high-quality child care in Wisconsin is a problem, and over three-quarters of Wisconsinites support an increase in state funding to fix it.

Meanwhile, for families currently using child care, the survey found approximately half reported missing work or school due to lack of child care and a shocking over 12 percent reported leaving the workforce entirely.

The survey, conducted by the University of Wisconsin (UW) Survey Center in partnership with the Institute for Research on Poverty, also found that about one-third of folks using child care reported having difficulty covering the cost of child care expenses.

According to DCF, the average annual cost for full-time infant care is $16,175 in center-based programs and $11,479 in family-based programs, equaling 21 percent and 15 percent, respectively, of the median household income in Wisconsin.

In total, Wisconsin families pay over $570 million for infants and toddlers under age three and over $1 billion for all preschool-aged children under age five. Gov. Evers has made investing in the state’s child care industry to help fill available child care slots, cut child care wait lists, and lower the cost of care for working families a top priority of his administration.

In 2020, the governor launched the Child Care Counts Program using federal relief funding. To date, Child Care Counts has helped more than 5,600 child care providers keep their doors open, ensuring the employment of more than 72,000 child care professionals and allowing providers to continue care for more than 417,000 kids. Without additional state investment, the program will end on June 30, 2025.

According to a recent DCF survey conducted in partnership with UW-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty and announced by Gov. Evers in April, a quarter of providers across the state said they are likely to close their doors if the Wisconsin State Legislature fails to make critical investments to continue the successful Child Care Counts Program that is set to expire at the end of June.

Additionally, if the program ends, costs for infant care are expected to go up, with three-quarters of providers expected to raise weekly tuition rates for care, increasing costs for working families that are already experiencing steep tuition and strained household budgets.

Of the 78 percent of providers who reported they will raise tuition for infant care, 21 percent expect to raise weekly rates by at least $25, and 17 percent expect rates to rise by at least $50, adding a whopping $1,300 or $2,600 to families’ household budgets per year, respectively.

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