The survey posed questions to 33 families, mostly identified as Black/African American or Hispanic/Latino. Most had a high school diploma as their highest form of education, and all made under $49,000.
Note: You can find a presentation of their findings at the end of this report.
Jane Morrow, the Executive Director of NHC Smart Start, a nonprofit that provides training for preschool sites in the county, oversaw the survey, which confirmed that an overwhelming majority of the parents interviewed think preschool is important.
“One of the main findings we had was that they really care about their children's early education. This was not a group of people who were like, ‘Oh yeah, I didn't enroll them because it didn't matter,’” she said.
There are approximately 12,900 children five years old or younger in New Hanover County; about 35% of those children are in licensed care facilities, which are comprised of private sites, facilities supported by NC Pre-K and/or Head Start, and county-funded classrooms run by the New Hanover County Schools district.
The survey also found that about half of those interviewed did not receive the necessary information to sign up, even when they tried. About a third said they had issues with the application process; Morrow said those could be things like a language barrier, the family only having access to the Internet on cell phones, or not having the necessary paperwork. Sometimes, the charges for those documents can be a hindrance.
There were also issues with the timing of programs, as some run from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., which is challenging for working families.
However, cost can also keep families out, and qualifying for some childcare subsidies can be difficult.
One interviewed parent said, “It was hard to get a job without daycare, but you need to get a job to get vouchers for daycare. I got a job at a gas station and then got vouchers, and from there, got my child in Head Start. Then I got a job in a nursing home and lost my vouchers since my hourly wage increased. I ultimately could not afford rent, daycare, and the cost of transportation, and was evicted from my home.”
In New Hanover County, the Department of Social Services oversees the childcare voucher program, which is funded through state and federal sources. In February, they reported serving 866 children with these subsidies, with another 362 on a waitlist. Notably, the subsidies don’t always cover the entire cost of care.
Morrow said the amount of subsidy varies based on three factors. A market rate is set for each age group (higher for younger children because teacher-child ratios are lower) and for each star rating of a child care license (higher stars have a higher market rate because quality care can cost more). Then, parents with incomes must pay 10% of their income towards the cost of care, and the subsidy pays the remainder up to the market rate for the child's age and the star rating of care. If a facility charges more than the market rate, the site may ask the parent to cover the gap, so the family’s contribution could be over 10% of their income. Morrow said there’s a movement in child care to advocate for lower childcare costs, closer to 7% of a family’s budget.
Morrow said that when averaging expenditures by the number of children served for February 2025, families got around $654 for each child, which can vary month to month and by family circumstances.
Governor Josh Stein has recently established a task force on child care and early education in March. According to his office, there is one childcare spot for every five families who want one, and the poverty rate for early childhood educators is 17.6% higher than the average for all North Carolina workers, contributing to a workforce shortage. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation also reports that the state loses $5.6 billion in annual economic activity due to a lack of childcare availability.
Even with these current problems, Stein, along with Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt and State Superintendent Mo Green, sent a letter to Congress asking to maintain funding for the Head Start program, responding to the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate $290 million in federal funding that the state receives for the program.
Despite the challenges, Morrow believes some policies can alleviate the child care crisis, “whether it’s more local, state, or federal money put into the child care voucher system, making it more affordable for more families. [Another] might be setting different minimum wages for early educators and having a salary supplement program similar to what we have in the county for teachers. It could be looking for more ways for businesses to contribute.”
There is a pilot program ongoing in North Carolina called Tri-Share, where childcare costs are split equally between the employee, the employer, and the state. Morrow said no business in New Hanover has signed up, but she could help them do it.
Companies taking advantage of this can shore up their workforce. Morrow gave the example of a nursing home providing child care for its employees to help with retention.
But, Morrow said, the strongest case for funding childcare is that it pays considerable dividends later.
“There have been a couple long term studies that are looking at not just how children are doing when they graduate high school, but are looking at long term employment, use of other social services, such as welfare benefits or SNAP benefits, and the likelihood of going to jail; when you have a really strong early childhood experiences, then all of those things go down,” she said. “So we don't necessarily see the savings on day one, but we see it as a community, and for those individuals. They're paying more taxes because you're working in a job.”
While Morrow thinks universal pre-K in New Hanover County is a long-term goal, the government and community could fund what’s known as “targeted” universalism. This means they could start with a specific age group, like 4-year-olds, and maybe have some qualifying factors to target the most vulnerable through income and parents’ level of education.
The county’s current budget proposal allocates $2 million for pre-K classrooms, a slight increase from last year’s $1.9 million. The district provides 30 classrooms; it lost $3.5 million when the federal Head Start grant went to a private site, Excel Learning, which serves about 188 children, from infants to four-year-olds.
Prek Interviews by Ben Schachtman on Scribd
