A nonprofit organization says it will seek legislative help to boost access to child care, including employer incentives for child care partnerships, to help Utah working families.
That is one priority of The Policy Project for the 2026 legislative general session as it looks to boost family affordability in the state and make Utah an even better place to have and raise children.
The nonprofit wants to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care by removing local barriers for home-based providers, facilitating employer incentives for child care partnerships, and providing startup grants for new home-based care providers.
Other priorities are boosting financial flexibility for parents by increasing awareness and filing assistance for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit and expanding income eligibility for the CTC, plus supporting new mothers by extending maternity leave for state employees to 12 weeks and enhancing protections for breastfeeding and pumping at work.
The Policy Project said those actions could create 10,000 new home-based child care slots, give 117,300 families greater financial flexibility through tax credits, and support 110,000 working parents with improved access to child care at work.
Other benefits, it says, are ensuring children receive quality early care, supporting mothers in the critical first months, and giving parents the flexibility to balance family care, work and finances, all of which it says would make raising a family in Utah not just possible but sustainable.
“Passing family-friendly policies ensures Utah remains a great place to raise a family, where families can thrive without making impossible trade-offs,” said Emily Bell McCormick, founder and president of The Policy Project. “When we invest in families, we invest in the future of our communities, our economy and our state.”
The nonprofit said parents should have the resources and flexibility to choose what’s best for their families, whether that means staying home during the early years, working part-time or pursuing a full-time career.
A news release from the nonprofit quotes a Sandy resident saying she always wanted to be a mother but cannot afford to have children. The mother said factors include the cost of giving birth, even with insurance, and daycare costs between $1,200 and $2,800 a month.
The Policy Project cites several studies indicating a need for better access to child care. One, from 2022, revealed that 74 percent of Utah parents with children under age 6 said they needed two incomes to cover household expenses. Another, from 2023, indicated that Utah loses $1.36 billion annually due to parent disruptions from a lack of child care.
Other statistics cited are that many Utah families, especially single parents, spend more than 30 percent of their income on child care; 43 percent of working parents would prefer one parent to stay home; infant care costs are 78 percent higher than college tuition; the average annual cost for two children in center-based care in Utah is $25,288, while residential-based care is $19,500; and three-fourths of Utahns live in a “child care desert,” where there isn’t enough child care to serve the working population.
Meanwhile, the state’s birth rate slipped from 2.65 births per family in 2007 to 1.8 in 2023.
Rising costs and limited options require many parents to make difficult choices like delaying having children, leaving careers, taking on multiple jobs, or working when they’d rather stay home.
“Family is at the heart of everything we do in Utah, and we want to ensure our state is the very best place in the nation to have and raise a family,” said gov. Spencer Cox. “I am grateful for so many partners who are working on these issues, including The Policy Project. They bring together communities and experts to find practical solutions that invest in our families and our future.”
Details are available at thepolicyproject.org/familyaffordability.
The Policy Project’s past legislative efforts have resulted in period products being provided in every Utah school, Teen Resource Centers built in 86 high schools, expanded child sexual abuse prevention education for K-6 students, limited distracting cell phone use in classrooms, and increased access to free school meals.