Portsmouth, NH City Councilor Seeks Solutions to Child Care Shortage

Portsmouth city councilors are investigating whether the city can create a plan to address the child care shortage, which they believe is affecting the community's workforce.

City Councilor Annie Hopkins, herself a mother of a toddler, experiences firsthand the challenges families encounter when identifying affordable child care sources. She is urging the city to explore supportive resources rather than running its own child care.

Hopkins told News 9 that the median family income in the state is approximately $112,000. Caring for a toddler and an infant averages approximately $32,000 annually — about 28% of a household's income. 

"The federal affordability guidelines say that child care should be 7% of a family's income, so we have just blown that out of the water," she told News 9. 

The high cost of child care is cited as a factor forcing some families out of the workforce, as the cost-benefit calculations for working parents become prohibitive.

"It's really a complex and multilayered issue," Hopkins explained. "That's why I think the city would be a great convener for all of these aspects, to look at them, lay them all out, and say, 'What's the path forward here?'"

Public input is central to shaping the working group's recommendations, she added.