Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 103
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
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For the remaining cost categories (food-related expenses, facility and business expenses, and
educational and other supplies), the cost model incorporates local, state, or national cost
estimates, depending on available data. The Child Care Workgroup reviewed the cost inputs
to ensure the costs reflect greater Davidson County realities.
Conclusion
Child care market prices (i.e., tuition rates) are constrained by what families can afford to
pay for child care, and tuition rates therefore cannot reflect the true cost of providing highquality child care without pricing families out of the market. The Policy Impact Center and
United Way of Greater Nashville partnered with the Child Care Workgroup, a local group of
community partners and child care experts, to create a cost estimation model that estimates
the true cost of high-quality child care in greater Davidson County.
The cost estimation model reveals the estimated true cost of high-quality center-based child
care in greater Davidson County is $3,457 per month for infants, $2,726 per month for
toddlers, and $2,214 per month for preschoolers.
Both market prices and child care certificate reimbursement rates fail to cover the true cost of
high-quality child care. At the 75th percentile of market prices – meaning that 75 percent of
programs charge less in tuition – center-based tuition rates leave a gap of as much as $1,812
per child per month between the tuition rate and the true cost of care. Tennessee’s child care
certificate reimbursement rates leave a gap of up to $2,105 per child per month.
The gap left by current reimbursement rates, combined with families’ limited ability to absorb
significantly higher tuition rates, drives programs to continue paying educators below a living
wage, and leaves many educators without benefits such as health insurance and retirement
contributions. This gap also leads to small numbers of infant slots, which are the least
financially sustainable. As a result, child care programs often struggle to remain financially
solvent as they simultaneously work to meet the needs of families, educators, and young
children in the greater Davidson County region.
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center 2026
www.pn3policy.org
