Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 70
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
13
Overall, these findings illustrate the tenuous balance of running a child care business in
greater Davidson County. Even among programs that report financial stability, many
anticipate raising tuition for families in the near future.
Additionally, since data collection concluded, Tennessee has also experienced substantial
reductions in federal child care funding. Specifically, the state received an approximately
$44.5 million reduction in its annual Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) allocation.35
These reductions affect subsidy structures and workforce development supports, including
professional development for providers, and further alter the financial context in which
greater Davidson County programs operate, potentially placing additional pressure on
program profitability.36
Conclusion
Across greater Davidson County, more than 4,000 educators support over 22,000 child care
slots. Center-based programs generally employ educators with a range of education levels
and years of experience. Still, staffing stability remains a challenge for the region, with
more than half of centers losing at least 20 percent of educators annually.
The average child care center pays early childhood educators $18.15 per hour, which falls
below the region9s ALICE Threshold, and fewer than 60 percent of programs offer their
educators healthcare benefits. In addition, fewer than half (47%) of surveyed program
directors report operating at a profit, and over half (57%) experienced high turnover in the
past year.
Although these findings describe the child care system across greater Davidson County as a
whole, the story varies across neighborhoods within the region. Centers located in higherincome communities tend to offer higher wages, experience lower turnover rates, and
employ a larger share of educators with advanced credentials. Conversely, centers in lowerincome communities more frequently report operating at a loss, tend to offer lower wages,
and experience higher turnover rates.
Child care businesses face unique challenges in running their operations: they cannot simply
raise prices to cover the rising cost of their services or to ensure they can pay staff a fair,
living wage with benefits. Even modest tuition increases risk pricing families out of their
services, particularly as families already face child care costs that exceed the average instate college tuition in Tennessee.37
More than two-thirds of center-based child care program directors report plans to raise tuition
prices within the next 6 to 12 months. Since data collection concluded, Tennessee has also
experienced a reduction in federal child care funding, including cuts to CCDF funding,
suggesting that programs may face greater financial pressure than reflected in these data.
Overall, these findings identify numerous strengths in the greater Davidson County child
care system, with many programs employing educated, tenured educators and offering
healthcare and retirement benefits despite financial constraints. Yet, the region9s child care
system also experiences persistent turnover, low wages, and declining public investment –
Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center 2026
www.pn3policy.org
