Statewide survey conducted by UConn and the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood provides an updated benchmark for tracking child care access and affordability
Connecticut parent Vanessa Hawke recalls the week she was offered a new job on a late Thursday afternoon and was asked to start on Monday. While elated for the new opportunity, she realized she had one business day to arrange affordable childcare for her 3-year-old son.
Hawke filled out forms, emergency contacts, and other paperwork, hoping to get a "mystery childcare spot that was hopefully available."
"Needless to say, my son came to work with me that Monday," she says. "In the end, the best that I could do to cobble this child care I needed was 30 hours a week across two different programs, one of which was in a neighboring town in the opposite direction that I had to go to in. For my son, this meant a lot of dysregulation … trying to adjust to two sets of classroom expectations and to different routines every day."
Since 30 hours of childcare wasn't enough to cover a full time job, she made up for the time by working late into the night, early in the mornings, and occasional weekends, and still struggled to pay for the care that cost more than her mortgage.
"And that was just during the school year. When my (8-year-old) daughter was no longer in her elementary school program, she would need care as well," Hawke says.
Hawke, who now works as a deputy director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, shared her personal story during a press conference held July 22 at the UConn School of Social Work. There, media and members of the community gathered to hear the results of the new statewide survey conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in partnership with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC).
"Finding affordable, reliable child care remains one of the biggest challenges facing Connecticut families," stressed Samantha Lawrence, assistant research professor at the UConn School of Social Work and principal investigator of the 2025 Connecticut Parent/Caregiver Survey study. "Parents and caregivers are the experts on what it takes to make child care work in their daily lives. This survey brings thousands of those experiences into view, helping us see both the challenges families face statewide and the important differences from town to town and family to family. That gives us a richer, more accurate understanding of what child care looks like across Connecticut."
The survey, based on responses from 3,719 parents and caregivers across the state, found that 53% of respondents believe child care is too expensive. Nearly one-third (30%) said they were actively searching for child care, on a waiting list, or both, while more than one-third (35%) reported that their current child care arrangement does not fully meet their family's needs.
The survey, designed to be repeated every two years, offers one of the most comprehensive snapshots of Connecticut families' child care experiences and establishes a baseline for measuring the impact of future state investments.
Families Continue to Face Significant Barriers
Lawrence and her 10-person team discovered the survey revealed substantial differences in child care access across Connecticut communities.
Families with toddlers reported some of the greatest difficulties, with nearly half actively searching for care or waiting for an opening. Lower-income families were also more likely to report unmet child care needs and challenges accessing financial assistance.
Regional disparities were equally striking. In one seven-town area of northeastern Connecticut, 71% of families reported searching for child care, being on a waiting list, or both-the highest rate among the 48 local areas included in the survey.
The survey also incorporated parent leadership throughout the research process, with a Parent Committee helping shape survey questions and outreach efforts.
"The survey findings validate what I heard over and over from parents while we were out in the community," said Adriana Warkoski, a member of the survey's Parent Committee and a Parent Ambassador with OEC's Parents Connecting Parents program. "From city to city and town to town, the message was the same: child care costs too much, the process is too complicated, and families wait too long for an opening. If Connecticut wants a child care system that really works, it has to be built around what Connecticut families really need."
View all of the survey's key findings.
Research That Informs Policy
The survey findings come as Connecticut begins implementing the Early Childhood Education Endowment, established in 2025 to create a long-term funding source for early childhood education.
Initial investments from the endowment have supported up to 1,000 new Early Start CT child care spaces and an 8% increase in provider payment rates. By repeating the survey every two years, researchers and policymakers will be able to measure whether those investments improve families' experiences over time.
"Parents are at the center of our work to support young children," said OEC Commissioner Elena Trueworthy. "Parent voice and leadership are critical because they inform our agency about family needs and their priorities for safe, quality child care. This Parent/Caregiver Survey provides data to guide our decisions as we build a sustainable early childhood education system that works for families across the state."
Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon said the findings underscore why continued investment is needed.
"As the parents of two young children, my wife and I know firsthand what this survey confirms: child care is unaffordable for most working families," Scanlon says. "The goal of the new Connecticut Early Childhood Education Endowment is to make it affordable, and this continuing survey will help track our progress when it comes to the important mission of lowering child care costs for families in our state."
Hawke, who now works deputy director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, noted that while it's also crucial to remember that childcare costs are prohibitively expensive, childcare providers are also barely making ends meet. She credits the state's progress towards increasing access to high quality, affordable early care and education.
"But we all know the work isn't done yet," she said. "With continued funding … we can keep moving towards the future in which parents can provide for their kids without burning out, and kids can get the developmentally appropriate education and support that they need in their most formative years. And so we're really eager to incorporate the findings from the survey into our work in support of that issue."
Community-Driven Research
"Child care is essential infrastructure," said School of Social Work Dean Laura Curran. "It supports children's development, makes work possible for parents and caregivers, strengthens family economic security, and helps communities thrive. Decisions about child care policy and public investment should therefore be grounded in a clear understanding of what families experience in their daily lives."
That commitment, she said, is "at the heart of" the OEC-UConn School of Social Work Partnership and the Connecticut Parent/Caregiver Survey. "These findings bring thousands of families' experiences into the public conversation and connect what parents and caregivers reported with the leaders who shape state policy and investment."
Lawrence's team conducted the survey during fall 2025 both online and in person, offering it in four languages with assistance from approximately 140 community partners across Connecticut. The collaborative approach helped ensure participation from families representing a wide range of communities and experiences.
The survey was funded by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood through the federal Child Care and Development Fund.
"This survey highlights the very real challenge facing so many parents and caregivers in our state, and establishes an important benchmark that will help us measure the impact of the Early Childhood Education Endowment over time," said State Treasurer Erick Russell, who is charged with administering, investing, and distributing the funds in the endowment. "This biennial survey and other tangible measures of outcomes will help to ensure the endowment is delivering meaningful results for children, parents, providers, and communities across our state."
