For parents trying to secure a daycare spot, the wait can stretch more than a year — and industry leaders say the shortage of staff, not space, is to blame.
"Finding childcare is I think the biggest struggle right now that I'm currently facing," said Rachel Guttridge, a parent who knows the struggle. "Most daycares have at least a year, year-and-a-half waitlist for you to even be considered, so we had to actually look for daycare before our child was even born."
At Little Miracles Academy in Lansing, Director Jada Robinson-Romero said low wages are driving the staffing shortage.
"Not a lot of people want to go into something and not get paid very much," Robinson-Romero said. "We're trying to get kids in in order to get the money flow in, but if we don't have the staff to have the kids, it's kind of a double-edged sword."
The next state budget includes a $35 million investment in childcare. According to Governor Whitmer's office, the funding is meant to "attract, recruit, retain and support high-quality professionals" in the workforce.
For workers already in the field, the investment could mean higher wages, and Robinson-Romero said increased staffing would allow centers to enroll more children and address other facility needs.
"The more staff we can get in, the more kids we can get in, which means the more money we have coming in," she said. "We can do the minor fixes at the daycare, we can repaint."
Gov. Whitmer's signature on each budget item is still pending.
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