Numbers Don’t Take Sides.
10/05/26
AUTHOR: Tasha Booker, President and CEO of Action for Children
In the time I’ve been with Action for Children, I’ve watched families come through our doors and, day after day, I’ve seen what access to high-quality, affordable childcare actually makes possible. Parents who went back to school. Moms who kept their jobs instead of losing them to an unexpected week of caring for a sick child. Kids with higher kindergarten readiness scores. Families walking into their child’s first day of school with confidence instead of anxiety.
But I want to talk about the families who may never get the choice to become parents or enroll their children in childcare programs — because despite working hard and doing all the right things, because the math just doesn’t work.
A Look at Childcare Costs
ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) data published by the United Way of Central Ohio shows what it actually takes for a working family to get by in Ohio. Not thriving, mind you. Just surviving. Two adults, one infant, one preschooler, no frills, no savings, no room for a bad month: $81,852 a year. That’s $6,821 a month. To earn that on one income working full-time, a parent would need to make $40.93 an hour. The median wage is Ohio right now is $24.90, by the way. These are the real numbers families are up against, before anyone talks about getting ahead.
And look at where that money goes. Childcare for one infant and one preschooler runs $1,843 a month. That’s more than some families’ entire housing payment. More than their entire grocery bill. More than double what they’ll spend getting to and from work. Childcare isn’t some line item tucked in the corner of a family’s budget. For a lot of Ohio households, it’s the single largest bill they’ll pay, full stop.
So, aren’t there subsidies for struggling families? Yes. And credit where it’s due; Ohio recently added a second layer. As of 2026, Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) covers families up to 145% of the federal poverty level, about $47,850 for a family of four. The Childcare Choice Voucher Program, launched in April 2024, extends help to families up to 200% of the poverty level — roughly $66,000 for that same family. That’s real progress, and worth saying plainly.
But here’s the kicker. That family of four has to earn $81,852 a year just to get by.
That’s $15,852 more than the maximum income allowed under Ohio’s most generous childcare assistance tier. Because they earn enough on paper, they qualify for nothing. No PFCC. No voucher. Just a survival budget with a giant childcare bill sitting on top of it. In Franklin County alone, 133,145 households fell into the ALICE category in 2024. Working, earning above the poverty line, and still unable to afford the basics. These are the families (most often mothers) who are being forced to exit the workforce in droves or getting ready to do so.
If you’re a working parent, you already know finances on paper look nothing like finances in real life. Look at the polling: 76% of Ohio voters say the ability to find and afford childcare is a crisis or a major problem. That includes 62% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats. When was the last time you saw that kind of agreement for any issue across every party in this state? This isn’t a red issue or a blue issue. It’s a math issue, and it goes beyond party affiliation.
The Numbers Game is Rigged
When the “math isn’t mathing”, the people who get left behind are hardworking families who earn too much to qualify for help and still not enough to pay outright. Shift workers with schedules that don’t match a traditional 9-to-5 care model. Employers who lose reliable staff because there’s nowhere for their kids to be. And, at the center of it, young children who miss out on the early learning opportunities that give them a strong foundation for kindergarten and beyond.
I grew up right here in Columbus, and I’ve watched this region grow and change. What hasn’t changed is this: childcare is still treated like a personal problem families are supposed to solve on their own, instead of the community infrastructure it actually is.
If you’re running for office in this state — whether county commission, statehouse, Congress, or governor — you need to be listening.
If you’re looking for votes, or trying to make a difference in your community, childcare had better be on your radar. Not because one side of the aisle demands it, but because the people you’re asking to vote for you, across every party, are already telling you it matters.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass