Los costos del cuidado infantil en El Paso podrían estar impulsando la disminución de la población, dicen los líderes

El Paso's aging population and shrinking birth rate are linked to a problem that has largely gone unaddressed in regional policy discussions: the cost and availability of childcare, according to El Paso Matters.

Regional leaders recently gathered at the El Paso Forward summit to confront demographic forecasts showing enrollment declines in school districts and a shrinking workforce. But the conversation overlooked what some say is a critical factor shaping whether families stay in the region and have children at all.

In El Paso, a household earning $35,000 annually spends roughly 26% of its income on childcare for one child, averaging $9,120 per year, according to Workforce Solutions Borderplex data cited by El Paso Matters. Nationally, families with young children are nearly one-third less likely to make ends meet than families without them.

The numbers are significant. Fifty-nine percent of children younger than 6 in El Paso live in households where every available parent works. When childcare arrangements fail, employees miss shifts, cut hours, or leave jobs entirely. A Texas 2036 survey found that 56.7% of parents say childcare costs influenced decisions about having more children, with some families deciding against having children at all.

Childcare providers face their own pressures. They struggle to raise worker wages while keeping tuition affordable for families, even as costs for classroom materials and food rise.

Local efforts are underway to address the gap. Early Matters El Paso is running the Best Place for Working Parents campaign, which asks employers of any size to take a free online assessment benchmarking their childcare policies. Participating employers can earn a national designation and receive free marketing, with the campaign open through September 11.

Employers can also access the federal 45F tax credit for employer-supported childcare, which covers up to 50% of costs for small businesses with a cap of $600,000. The credit also covers 10% of costs for employers connecting employees to childcare referrals.

According to El Paso Matters, leaders argue that affordable childcare is as essential to economic infrastructure as roads or broadband, and that local businesses and civic leaders have the ability to create a stronger early childhood ecosystem through policy changes.