Regional Childcare

Child Care in the Strafford Region

Persistent gaps in child care availability and affordability constrain labor force participation and limits employers’ ability to attract and retain workers, making accessible and affordable child care essential to both workforce participation and economic growth in the Strafford Region. As of 2025, the SRPC region had a licensed capacity of 4,638 child care slots, compared to an estimated demand of approximately 5,579 children.

The factors driving this gap are complex and interconnected. Low wages and demanding working conditions contribute to staffing shortages and high turnover, which often prevent providers from operating at full capacity and further reduce available slots. Providers also face high operating costs and ongoing challenges recruiting qualified educators. Regulatory barriers, such as restrictive zoning and complex licensing processes, have slowed the creation of new child care options. Meanwhile, families continue to struggle with rising expenses: in 2025, the annual cost of care for a toddler in Strafford County averaged $16,453.

To help address these challenges, SRPC partnered with students from the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service to advance several key initiatives, outlined below. This work represents two phases of the SRPC Regional Child Care Initiative, conducted with two graduate student cohorts during the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years:

• Model ordinance development to support home‑based child care and ensure compliance with RSA 672 and RSA 674 (relative to home-based care), completed with the support of the NH Office of Planning and Development (OPD).
• Community and provider outreach to assess the accessibility and effectiveness of existing child care business resources, conducted in collaboration with the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA).
• Child care business financing guide (currently in development) outlining funding opportunities for child care providers, created with the support of the Strafford Economic Development Corporation (SEDC).
• Supply and demand analysis to better understand regional child care needs and quantify gaps, conducted with the support of the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy.
• Comprehensive report development that identifies strategies for expanding child care access in the Strafford Region, informed by extensive research, data collection, stakeholder outreach.
• Child care resource guide to improve access to resources and information for families, providers, and businesses.

Going forward, this work, along with funding support from NH CDFA, will enable SRPC staff to continue assisting communities in updating their local regulations to ensure alignment with state requirements, address regulatory barriers, and advance child care-friendly policies with the overarching goal of expanding supply and improving affordability.