2025 Lincoln County Child Care Assessment

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 offers several recommendations to address the identified challenges and support improvements in the child care system.

BACKGROUND

"Lincoln County is not unique in facing child care challenges; with communities across Wisconsin experiencing similar shortages in child care access, affordability, and workforce shortages. This plan seeks to evaluate current child care capacity by analyzing key demographic and socioeconomic data to better understand how these trends contribute to and are affected by the child care shortage. Additionally, the plan includes information on child care capacity, costs, and historical trends to provide a detailed understanding of the County child care landscape. The impacts of the shortage on families and the economy, as well as the barriers to sufficient child care supply are also included. An analysis of the child care gap tries to quantify the shortage of slots based on available data and resources. Finally, the plan offers several recommendations to address the identified challenges and support improvements in the child care system."