Can these child care centers survive? What their fight means for parents, employers

BOISE, Idaho — Boise City Council Member Luci Willits was a junior in college when she had her first child.

At the time, she and her husband couldn’t afford child care. Instead, they planned their class schedules so that one of them was always available to take care of the baby. Occasionally, in a pinch, Willits had to bring her daughter with her to class.

“We were able to make it work” by relying on friends and family to fill in the gap, she told the Idaho Statesman in an interview. “But it was life-changing,” when, years later, her family found formal child care in their neighborhood.

“The woman who ran that child care center will be a saint forever in the Willits household,” she said. “She partnered with us in raising our children. And I was a better employee because I knew my children were well-taken care of.”

“I think I was lucky,” she said. But amid the Boise area’s rapid growth, rising cost of living, and instability in the child care industry caused in part by COVID-19, many families in the area still struggle to find affordable, high-quality child care.

The industry is suffering too. In 2023, Idaho lost over 1,300 child care spots and 86 child care centers, due in large part to turnover among child care workers, according to a report by IdahoSTARS, a child care-focused nonprofit. Nearly 300 of those spots were in Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties, IdahoSTARS reported.

In 2020, the state had a nearly 30% gap between the number of children who needed care and...