(The Center Square) – Snohomish County has moved one step closer to addressing their so-called “child care deserts” by allocating $7.6 million in federal funding towards improving access to child care across the county.
According to the nonprofit Child Care Aware, roughly 80% of Snohomish County is in an “extreme child care desert,” with only 62 available child care seats for every 100 infants, toddlers, or preschoolers whose parents work.
This is significantly lower than the Washington state average of 79 seats per 100 infants.
“A major barrier to people joining or returning to the workforce is the lack of available and affordable child care. The effects of child care deserts across our county impact all of us, but they have an even more acute impact on women, who are pushed out of the job market at higher rates due to the extremely high cost of child care,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers in a statement accompanying the announcement.
