In 2025, the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (NCWRPC) produced this report in response to growing concerns over child care access and affordability. Child care impacts working families and contributes to workforce shortages across the region. This plan assesses current child care capacity through an analysis of demographics, provider availability, costs, and historical trends to present a comprehensive view of the county’s child care landscape. The plan o

DCF-P-5805 (N. 09/2024)   Summary: Wisconsin’s child care system is facing a severe crisis driven by long-standing financial instability, workforce shortages, and high costs for families. Child care programs operate on razor-thin margins, leaving many classrooms empty despite growing waitlists. Providers struggle to pay competitive wages, averaging just $13.55 per hour for lead teachers compared to the state’s average wage of $28.34, and many programs lack health or reti

Hilary Shager, Zachary Bauer, and Liesl Hostetter Institute for Research on Poverty University of Wisconsin–Madison September 2024...