New Broward County Report Finds Child Care Affordability and Workforce Pressures Are Limiting Early Learning Access for Working Families

The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida Business Alliance for Early Learning, in partnership with Broward Workshop and the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County, released the new Broward County Early Learning Landscape Analysis and Roadmap. The report examines the child care experiences of Broward County families, early learning providers, educators, and employers and identifies practical opportunities to strengthen the county’s early learning system. Broward employers need to create 38,410 new jobs by 2030, and early learning solutions help parents thrive.

The Florida Business Alliance for Early Learning brings Florida business leaders and community partners together to strengthen early learning and literacy outcomes, build Florida’s future workforce, and advance the Florida 2030 Blueprint goals of 100% kindergarten readiness and third-grade reading proficiency in Florida.

The analysis draws on more than 3,700 parent, educator, and provider survey responses, five stakeholder focus groups, public data, and demographic and socioeconomic analysis. It is one of the largest county-level early learning survey efforts conducted in Florida and reflects Broward County’s scale, diversity, and complex child care landscape.

The report finds that Broward County has substantial assets, including 758 licensed providers, nearly 90,000 licensed slots, a diverse early learning workforce, and established family-navigation and provider-support infrastructure. At the same time, affordability, uneven access, workforce instability, and behavioral-support needs are preventing many families from fully benefiting from that system.

“As I’ve repeatedly said, Broward County has more potential than many counties, but alignment is key,” said Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Foundation. “If we fix early learning, we fix 1,000 other things. Broward County has many of the institutions and partnerships in place to lead in early learning, but the data shows that too many working families still cannot find or afford care that meets their needs. Strengthening childcare is an investment in today’s workforce and tomorrow’s talent pipeline. Employers, community leaders, educators, and public partners each have a role in turning Broward’s strong foundation into better outcomes for families and children.”

Among the report’s findings:

• Fifty-two percent of responding childcare providers maintain a waitlist, representing 1,161 waitlist placements across age groups. Please note: Because families may join more than one list, this is not a count of unique children.
• Sixty-three percent of surveyed parents who experienced difficulty finding care cited cost as a barrier, while 39% cited limited availability or waitlists.
• Fifty-six percent of surveyed parents receive no financial assistance, and 40% were unaware that childcare assistance programs are available.
• Thirty-two percent of surveyed early educators seriously considered leaving the field during the past year, and 33% work a second job.
• Sixty percent of responding providers reported paying assistant teachers less than $15 per hour.
• Fifty-eight percent of surveyed educators identified training to address challenging behaviors as a top professional-development need, while 45% reported that children frequently or very frequently need additional behavioral or developmental support.
• Forty-five percent of Broward County kindergartners met the readiness benchmark on the Fall 2025 assessment. While 64% of 3^rd graders in Broward are ready at grade level.

“Broward County’s business community has an important role to play in strengthening the early learning system that supports our workforce and economy,” said Kareen Boutros, Executive Director of Broward Workshop. “This report gives us a shared understanding of the challenges families and providers face and a practical starting point for action. By aligning employers with early learning, education, philanthropy, and public-sector partners, we can build on Broward’s existing strengths and help more families access the dependable, affordable child care they need to work and thrive.”

The new research shows that Broward County does not need to create a parallel early learning system. Instead, the report calls for partners to expand and better connect the infrastructure already in place, including the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County’s Child Care Resource & Referral services, multilingual outreach, provider communications, educator training, and behavioral-support programs. Broward has most of the needed parts and can better connect the dots.

The report recommends a coordinated community response focused on five priorities:

• Improve affordability for working families.
• Build a shared early learning strategy using common data and measures.
• Strengthen the early childhood workforce.
• Expand equitable access to high-quality early learning.
• Continue and strengthen family navigation and community coordination.

“When we invest in early learning, we invest in far more than our children. We invest in families, a stronger workforce, a healthier economy, and the future of our community and state,” said Renee Jaffe, CEO of the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County. “Broward County is fortunate to have a strong network of high-quality early learning providers, and the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County is proud to support their work through School Readiness, VPK, educator and program supports, family services, and community outreach that help children and families thrive. Yet for too many working families, affordability remains a significant barrier, and many parents earn too much to qualify for assistance but still struggle to afford quality care. No family should have to choose between their career and their child’s early education. Greater investment in early learning can help more families access the care they need and ensure every child has the strong start they deserve.”

The roadmap also identifies near-term opportunities to strengthen behavioral-health supports in early learning settings, expand educator retention and credential supports, fund childcare scholarships for families on the School Readiness waitlist and those above the eligibility threshold, assess remaining multilingual educator needs, and extend outreach through trusted settings such as workplaces, pediatric offices, libraries, and WIC sites.

Employers are central to the strategy. The report recommends an annual Employer Child Care Roundtable and quarterly working sessions to help businesses share information with employees, consider family-friendly scheduling and childcare benefits, contribute to local scholarship or workforce funds, and determine whether the Florida Child Care Tax Credit fits their circumstances.

“No single organization can solve these challenges alone,” Wilson said. “Broward’s opportunity is to align the business community, providers, educators, philanthropy, government, and families around a shared set of priorities, invest in what is already working, and measure progress over time.”

Survey distribution and stakeholder engagement for the Broward County Early Learning Landscape Analysis and Roadmap was supported by the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County. Survey findings represent participating respondents and should not be interpreted as a complete count of every family, educator, or provider in the county.

Click here to read the full report and learn more about early learning resources in Broward County.