Child well-being in Texas is on the ropes, with a new study showing significant declines in third grade reading, eighth grade math proficiency and the number of young children attending preschool and Kindergarten.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is out with its 2023 Kids Count Data Book, focusing on what it calls the nation's "broken child care system."

Coda Rayo-Garza, director of research and data for the nonprofit Every Texan, said in roughly 12% of the state's families with kids, someone has quit, changed jobs or even refused a job because child care wasn't available or affordable.

"In Texas, year-round full-time infant care costs, at a center, almost as much as a year of tuition at a public university, which is outrageous," Rayo-Garza contended.

This year's Data Book ranks Texas 44th among the states, using 16 key indicators of child well-being.

Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said child care workers are paid worse than 98% of professions, leading to chronic workforce shortages and high turnover. She noted the U.S. has never had a child care system which is affordable and accessible to families.

"We know that the earliest stages of life -- the birth-to-four, birth-to-five stage -- is an incredible phase of brain development for children," Boissiere pointed out. "It's important that they are in quality child care settings."

Rayo-Garza cited a study by the University of Texas at Austin which showed hardly any child care is available in the state on weekends. She explained it affects huge numbers of nonsalaried employees, primarily workers of color with multiple, part-time jobs.

"When we're thinking about the economic impact of not having a well-funded infrastructure of care in Texas, we're losing $11.4 billion every year due to child care challenges," Rayo-Garza emphasized.

Texas' average cost of center-based child care for a toddler in 2021 was nearly $9,000, which is 9% of the median income of a couple or 28% of a single parent's income.

To access the audio newscast, follow this link: https://www.newsservice.org/cuts/84/rssp-84911-1.mp3?zz=75ce