For many Granite State families, child care is inaccessible and unaffordable. According to Child Care Aware of America, center-based care for two children under 5 years old averaged nearly $32,000 annually in New Hampshire during 2023, a 12.5% increase from 2022.
The New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship Program (NHCCSP) is a state and federal fiscal partnership that subsidizes high-quality child care to make it affordable and accessible to families with low and moderate incomes. Under the NHCCSP, parents of eligible children can look for employment, attend school, participate in mental health or substance misuse treatment, or engage in the workforce.
The state fiscal year’s 2024-2025 state budget raised the NHCCSP family income eligibility cap to 85% of the state median income and reduced family cost share contributions toward child care to no more than 7% of household income for eligible families. The state government adjusted income eligibility guidelines on July 1, 2024, coinciding with the start of state fiscal Year 2025. The expanded eligibility means more households should be eligible to participate, including households of three earning up to $95,283, or four earning up to $113,432.
Following implementation of the initial income eligibility expansion in January 2024, child care scholarship usage rose 21.3% by June 2024 relative to enrollment in December 2023, representing an increase of 567 children. Year-over-year comparisons suggest a 15.1% increase in scholarship usage between June 2023 and June 2024. These figures reverse recent trends, which include a reduction in scholarship enrollment by approximately 29.3% between July 2021 and December 2023.
The NHCCSP has been historically under-enrolled due to several barriers, including a lack of awareness of the program, under participation by child care providers — approximately 74% of providers currently participate, according to the 2024 Child Care Market Rate Survey — and limited availability of child care slots due to staffing shortages.
While a lack of affordable and accessible child care most directly impacts families, it also prevents potential workers from entering the labor force in the Granite State, which currently has two open jobs for every one person looking for employment. A well-funded early childhood care and education system benefits all Granite Staters and is a key contributing factor to a healthy, growing state economy.
Nicole Heller is a senior policy analyst with the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. The NHFPI Policy Memo is a partnership of the NH Fiscal Policy Institute and NH Business Review.
