Child care struggle worsens in rural U.S.: AP

Tourists spend time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the United States on Oct. 30, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The coronavirus pandemic shone a spotlight on the national child care crisis as an estimated 10 percent of the country's programs shuttered.

NEW YORK, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A shortage of child care in the United States has become so acute that it's reaching far into rural communities, reported The Associated Press (AP) on Wednesday.

"Parents trying to enroll children in the facility can spend months or even years on a 40-family waitlist," said the report.

From Oregon to New York, demand for child care far exceeds supply. Families are growing increasingly desperate as providers deal with staffing shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as well as historically low pay worsened by inflation, according to AP.

"The coronavirus pandemic shone a spotlight on the national child care crisis as an estimated 10 percent of the country's programs shuttered," noted the report.

Half of U.S. residents live in child care deserts where fewer than a third of children have access to a slot at a licensed facility, said the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.