In a brightly lit playroom surrounded by giggling toddlers, Danielle Keeter juggles many responsibilities. She’s a licensed child care provider running a day care in her Linden home with the kind of love, learning, and attention every parent hopes for. But at the same time, she’s striving to balance the many pressures that have come to define her industry.
“I absolutely love what I do, and I’m proud to provide our families with quality day care,” said Keeter, owner of Miss D’s Tot Spot since 2016. “But I’m always trying to find the balance between keeping day care affordable for my community while also paying my staff a respectable, living wage.”
Keeter’s story isn’t unique. Across the United States and Genesee County, child care providers face a perfect storm of challenges: providing a safe and enriching environment for children while recruiting and retaining qualified caregivers, low staff pay, rising operational costs, limited profit margins, and the ever-present need to meet regulatory standards.
The strain has left many providers wondering how to stay afloat, while families scramble to find affordable, quality care.
A 2020 study by the Michigan League for Public Policy estimates that approximately 560,000 Michigan children under the age of 6 required child care from adults other than their parents. However, the state’s licensed child care capacity was only sufficient to meet the needs of about 31% of these children.
Meanwhile, families face their own battles. The federal government recommends that child care costs should not exceed 7% of a family’s income in order for it to be affordable. However, the average cost of child care in Genesee County is $1,400 per month – far exceeding what’s considered affordable for households earning a median household income of $61,000 or less.
“Essentially, parents can’t afford to pay, and the people working in child care can’t afford to stay for the wages they’re being offered – and that is the core issue,” said Joan Blough, senior director for the Child Care Innovation Fund at the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.
But Michigan is making a name for itself with a bipartisan drive to address child care concerns with new policy developments and the dedication of significant funds.
To better gauge the state of child care in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022 announced 16 regional child care planning grants to help expand access to affordable child care statewide.
“Child care is the backbone of our economy,” Whitmer said. “Access to quality, affordable child care supports parents as they work, ensures kids have the support they need to grow into their best selves, and helps businesses hire, recruit, and retain talent.”
Locally, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation awarded the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, a division of the Flint & Genesee Group, a grant to form a regional child care coalition, conduct regional research, and write an action plan to improve access to child care.
Regional leaders formed the Genesee, Lapeer, Shiawassee, and St. Clair County Regional Child Care Coalition (GLSSC), comprised of representatives from economic development organizations and local governments, child care providers, parents of young children, and other community partners.
Overall, the coalition’s findings showed access to affordable child care is a worsening crisis across the state and within the GLSSC region. (For additional information regarding the child care challenges families face, see our feature story.)
Child care centers require skilled workers yet pay rates in the industry are notoriously low – often just above minimum wage and usually without benefits. In Michigan, only 1% of the child care workforce earns enough to support their families.
As a result, turnover rates are high.
Staffing is one of the biggest challenges among providers who must adhere to strict caregiver-to-child ratios mandated by state and federal regulations. These rules are designed to ensure children receive the close supervision and support they need during critical development years.
Under these regulations, the number of children allowed per caregiver depends on the age group being cared for, with younger children requiring more hands-on attention. This creates logistical and financial challenges for providers when required ratios often mean hiring more staff.
In Flint, Annette Hughes is addressing that staffing issue head-on through innovative talent development and retention solutions.
As the founder of Sunny Patch Learning Center, Hughes demonstrates a major commitment to her team’s growth. This includes offering career advancement opportunities, professional development, pay raises, bonuses, and personal support when needed. What’s more, through her collaboration with GST Michigan Works!, she helped build an early childhood education apprenticeship program to train aspiring educators.
“Caring for our kids is the best part of the job,” said Hughes, who cares for 75 children and employs 10 staff members across two locations. “The hard part comes with the rules and regulations and staffing.”
Home-based child care providers, which are often a more flexible option for families, face similar ratio requirements as larger centers. In Linden, Miss D’s Tot Spot is licensed for up to 14 children and has a staff of three caregivers. Keeter is not only at capacity, she has a waiting list of 30 children.
“I usually get a couple calls or messages a week from people looking for day care who can’t find any available programs,” said Keeter, who owns the business with her husband, Matthew.
Securing child care for infants is a daunting task for many parents. The demand for infant care far exceeds the supply in many areas, leaving families struggling to find safe, affordable, and accessible options.
Low caregiver-to-infant ratios mean providers must hire more staff for infant rooms than other age groups, significantly increasing operating costs. Many can only care for a small number of infants, further reducing availability.
“Unfortunately, if you have too many infants, you’re not going to have time for your other kiddos,” Keeter said. “Right now, I couldn’t afford to bring on additional staff to take on more infants even though I know there’s a huge need in our community for that.”
In 2024, Keeter charged families a flat daily rate of $45 per day, which included breakfast, lunch, and snack. Although she knows charging more will squeeze families already struggling to make ends meet, she feels compelled to incrementally increase her daily rate to $50 by 2026.
“I’ve been super blessed with a really awesome staff that puts their hearts and souls into this job,” Keeter said. “But the only way I can retain them is by paying them a livable wage.
“It’s definitely a balancing act.”
Experts say there’s no silver bullet for the child care crisis. However, looking forward, the GLSSC Regional Child Care Coalition hopes to begin tackling some of the barriers identified by providers in its Regional Action Plan. See the sidebar for some examples.
In the end, improving access to affordable, quality child care is a marathon, not a sprint.
Understanding the challenges faced by providers, families, business owners, municipalities, and economic development organizations may be the best first step to properly nurturing the next generation, said Kathy Szenda Wilson, founder and co-executive director at Pulse at the W.E. Upjohn Institute.
“We need to see that it’s all of our responsibility – our obligation – to get this right and invest in the first five years of our children’s lives,” Szenda Wilson said. “Our future depends on it.”