NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Child care costs can rival college tuition, and for many families, getting into daycare is just as competitive.
New findings show that not only are there too few daycare spots available in Nashville, there just aren’t enough licensed spots, period. This is especially true for infants.
Raising Readers, a United Way of Greater Nashville initiative, recently released its updated Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study. The report details what it would take to open and sustain more child care centers across the county.
"Of those 22,000 slots available citywide, only 2,000 are technically infant slots, and only of those, 304 are actually open slots," said Brandon White, Director of Education at the United Way of Greater Nashville.
New findings reveal the area is home to roughly 40,000 children under age five in households where all parents are working, making child care essential, but infant care accounts for such a small share of local capacity that centers can serve only 1 in 5 babies born in 2024.
"I think the thing to remember is, this is a shared community responsibility," White said. "Because if we change, let's say, for example, subsidy rates and we offer more funding per child to existing child care sites, that could take some of the burden off existing providers, but it's not going to help grow the market."
I have covered this issue for years. As a mom of two, I know it firsthand. So when a local childcare center expanded for the third time in three years, I looked at what others could learn.
"I think the reason St. Mary Villa has been able to expand is because it's bringing people to the table and that are willing to partner, willing to find a solution, and not willing to say no," said Alyssa Garnett-Arno, the Executive Director at St. Mary Villa.
At the Catholic Pastoral Center in Donelson, a former Catholic Charities space will become St. Mary Villa's newest childcare center. This marks the center's third expansion in roughly three years.
"It doesn't have to look like a school on the outside because anything can be a school on the inside," Garnett-Arno said.
Applications just opened for the new space set to open in the summer.
Right now, the Metro Council is looking at two bills aimed at speeding up daycare approvals through zoning and planning changes.
One zoning bill goes before the Planning Commission on April 23, and another measure, similar to the fast-track process used for affordable housing, is expected to pass at the Council’s next meeting on April 21.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at hannah.mcdonald@newschannel5.com.
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