AUSTIN, Texas — On Thursday, the Austin City Council approved a resolution easing city zoning restrictions for child care facilities to help create more accessible and affordable options for parents.
Councilmembers added provisions to build more facilities in child care deserts, lessen parking requirements and focus on helping public safety employees. The provision also provides financial incentives for operations to build or expand in places where child care is virtually nonexistent.
A lack of affordable options in Austin hurts single mothers like Tiffany De La Fuente, a mother of three children. After losing her job last year, De La Fuente was left with making tough decisions.
"I was kind of struggling because it was whether I would pay my rent or pay for child care. Even then, I wasn't paying the full amount of child care 'cause I was getting assistance," De La Fuente said.
The lack of affordable child care doesn't just make it hard for mothers like De La Fuente – it also comes at a cost to the economy. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the State of Texas loses more than $9 billion due to child care issues.
John Doggett, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, explained that if Austin is to remain an "attractive" place for families to live in, solving this crisis is crucial.
"As people are looking at, 'Where do we move to? If we can't get affordable child care in Austin, well, maybe we'll go someplace else where we can get it.' So it could start to damp down economic growth in Austin," Doggett said.
Doggett said a lack of child care options could have a negative impact on Austin's growing economy in the future.
"[Families are] gonna come, but it's the second- or third-tier companies that don't have all that money, that might say well, 'Austin is so last decade. It's not attractive anymore, it's too expensive, it's not easy for us, so let's look someplace else.' Like Tulsa, [Oklahoma], or Chattanooga, [Tennessee], or some of the other cities that are trying to compete with us," Doggett said.
The newly-approved resolution will help attract more young families to Austin, according to Doggett, and will help increase the economic potential for mothers like De La Fuente.
"We have to address their needs and one of their needs is, 'How do I take care of my kids?'" Doggett said.
"If I can't work, then I can't provide for my kids, and there's no really like option between that. I do it or I don't," De La Fuente said.
De La Fuente now works at Mariposa Learning Center, which provides subsidized learning and care in southeast Austin.