Park City leaders are amid a difficult discussion about the future of child care in the community and the role City Hall could play as worries about costs mount.
The cost of living in Park City has long been concerning to the rank-and-file workforce of the community. Housing prices in Park City’s resort-driven real estate and rental markets have driven the cost of living higher for decades, but other expenses, including childcare, have over time become issues for the workforce and others.
Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council have recently been pressed for assistance with the child care situation. The elected officials continue to talk about the topic, but it is not clear what role the municipal government may ultimately play.
A recent assessment centered on child care needs, which was included in the materials presented to the elected officials in anticipation of a meeting that was held on Thursday, provides comments that illustrate the concern. The comments were submitted anonymously and compiled as part of a broader survey.
The comments cover a range of issues related to childcare, and many of them highlight the concerns about costs. Some of them generally address similar issues as those broached in public comments received by the mayor and City Council recently. The comments overwhelmingly are in support of assistance with childcare or describe the challenges people encounter as they attempt to place their kids in programs.
Some of them include:
• “I put my name on waitlists for daycare in PC and SLC when I was 12 weeks pregnant. Some places called when my kid was 2 telling me they had a spot. We probably need 5x the number of current spots to fit the community need. Hours need to be adequate to cover 8 hour workday (and this still only somewhat helps the many people who work non 8-5 hours).”
• “Young families are being forced to move from Park City due to the lack of affordable child care.”
• “My kids are now in full time school but we are left scrambling during summer break and long school breaks. Very limited camp options, almost all are week to week, especially hard to find full day… super expensive and getting a place in one is a competitive sport and nearly impossible—especially to get two kids of different ages into the same ones/same schedules. We would use some kind of childcare during the summers and school breaks.”
• “Providing a subsidy or otherwise facilitating more childcare options within the community would go a great way to keeping people living here, and allowing those that commute in, to have a place to safely drop their children off, assisting with creating wealth and security, however little or great for a segment of the community that is in desperate need.”
• “We have a fantastic childcare situation, but SO many of our friends and contacts are struggling to find spots at all, or to find affordable spots. I have heard of families driving to Salt Lake to drop kids at childcare and then coming back up to PC to work. WILD.”
• “I think it’s a major factor in why people like me are deciding not to have children which is really sad.”
• “Finding adequate childcare in this community has been extremely difficult, our child has been on the waiting list for two years for four separate daycare facilities, one of which ended up closing down. We can’t compete with the individuals who can afford nannies in this town but we also can’t get into childcare because of the extensive waiting lists.”
• “I feel like I’ve been very fortunate to even find a spot at a childcare location, so I’m a lucky one. If this community wants to stay a true community with families, there needs to be more options and ones that are affordable. Subsidies would help but also ensuring our teachers/community workers have accessible options without getting placed on a waitlist 20 kids deep needs to be a priority.”
• “My husband recently lost our childcare and are now both working part time to keep my child at home. Our childcare options are so expensive in this town that it’s not worth us working full time. We are now living on an extreme budget. It’s stressful each month to pay bills.”
There were also several comments questioning a government role. They included:
• “Childcare is a parental responsibility. Govt tax fund should not be used to provide free childcare Education is a community responsibility That is different than childcare”
• “I am not sure why the local government should be subsiding child care. Private sector wages need to rise to allow parents to pay for childcare, or private employers need to subsidize child care costs. Why are taxpayers subsidizing profitable private sector employers?”