New local data is helping us understand the child care challenges families face and giving our community something powerful to act on.
What happens when we listen to our community, put local data in people’s hands and give them an opportunity to act on what they learn?
Achieve Brown County, Brown County United Way and the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) partnered to launch the 2026 Brown County Child Care Survey to better understand how child care access and affordability are affecting families, workplaces and our local economy.
From April through July, 183 Brown County employees shared their experiences.
The full data brief tells a much bigger story, but a few findings stood out.
Do We Have Enough Child Care?
For many Brown County families, the challenge begins with simply finding care.
Brown County has approximately 7,900 regulated child care seats, while an estimated 13,700 children under age 6 need care outside the home.
That means regulated child care capacity exists for only about 58% of the young children estimated to need it.
And even when families find care, they told us they face additional barriers.
The largest barrier? Cost.
84% of respondents with child care needs identified cost as a barrier.
Families with children under age 6 reported spending between 10% and 30% of household income on child care, well above the federal affordability benchmark of 7% (Haskins, 2026).
But the effects don’t end with a family’s budget.
Child Care Shows Up at Work
78% of respondents with child care needs said access to child care affected their or their partner’s employment in the past 12 months.
The impact showed up in different ways: unplanned sick leave, using vacation or PTO because of closures, reducing or changing work hours and even changing job roles in search of greater flexibility.
One survey respondent put the choice facing some families into words:
“Sometimes it makes more financial sense for a family member to leave the workforce rather than pay for child care… more people would return to work if they didn’t need to weigh the cost of childcare against what they’d be earning.”
This is why child care belongs in conversations about more than children and families. It is also a workforce issue.
We Put the Data in People’s Hands
Collecting the data was never meant to be the final step.
Throughout the Brown County Child Care Business Breakfast Series, local business leaders came together to learn more about child care and its connection to our local economy and workforce.
At the final breakfast, attendees got their first look at the Brown County survey findings.
Then we asked them to do something with what they learned.
Attendees were invited to write postcards directly to their elected officials, sharing why child care matters to them, their workplaces and their communities.
One attendee wrote:
“Child care allows my colleagues to show up consistently and do their jobs confidently. Without child care, they couldn’t be here.”
Another shared:
“Child care is an economic driver. If we want to attract talent, grow businesses, and strengthen our economy we need to invest in a childcare system that meets the needs of today’s workforce.”
The data gave people a shared starting point. Their own experiences gave them something to say.
That is where information can begin to move into action.
This Is Only Part of the Story
The numbers highlighted here are just a snapshot of what Brown County employees shared with us.
The full Brown County Child Care Survey Data Brief takes a deeper look at:
- The barriers families face when accessing child care
- How child care challenges affect employment and workforce participation
- The financial pressures families are experiencing
- What respondents told us, in their own words, about the decisions they are making because of child care
Most importantly, this survey gives us a starting point for continued conversations with families, employers, business leaders and elected officials.
We asked. Our community answered. Now we have a responsibility to keep listening and use what we learned to move the work forward.
Want to Dig Deeper?
Explore the full 2026 Brown County Child Care Survey Data Brief to see the findings, view the full list of questions, hear more directly from respondents and better understand how child care is affecting families and our workforce.
