Report on Child Care Closures in North Carolina and Implications for Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: The Child Care Crisis as a Barrier to Sustainable Development

Recent trends in North Carolina indicate a net loss in the number of licensed child care facilities, presenting a significant challenge to the state’s progress toward several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The closure of these essential services, particularly in geographically isolated areas, undermines community resilience and equitable development. This report analyzes the impact of these closures, using the case of Hatteras Island as a primary example, and frames the issue within the context of the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Case Study: Hatteras Island and Geographically Isolated Communities

The recent closure of the only licensed child care center on Hatteras Island highlights a critical vulnerability in North Carolina’s social infrastructure. This event mirrors a similar loss in Ocracoke in 2017, demonstrating a pattern of service collapse in remote communities. The lack of alternative facilities in these areas creates an acute crisis for families, severely impacting their ability to participate in the local economy and access essential services. This situation directly contravenes the principles of SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by failing to provide basic services that support inclusive and resilient community development.

Analysis of Impacts on Key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The closure of child care facilities has far-reaching consequences that impede progress across multiple SDGs:

• SDG 4: Quality Education: The loss of licensed child care centers denies young children access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education, which is a foundational target (4.2) for lifelong learning and development.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The crisis is twofold. Firstly, it forces working parents, particularly women, out of the workforce, hindering economic productivity. Secondly, the closures are often caused by the inability to provide family-sustaining wages to qualified staff, reflecting a failure to ensure decent work for all within the early education sector.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality: The burden of finding alternative care disproportionately falls on women, reinforcing traditional gender roles and limiting their economic empowerment and participation in public life. Accessible child care is a critical enabler for achieving gender equality.
• SDG 1: No Poverty: Without reliable child care, parents’ earning potential is diminished, which can perpetuate or exacerbate cycles of poverty. Affordable child care is a key tool for poverty reduction and economic stability for families.

Identified Causal Factors and Systemic Challenges

A perspective from a working parent on Hatteras Island, Erin Thomas Trant, identified core systemic issues contributing to the closures. These factors represent significant barriers to creating a sustainable early care ecosystem aligned with the SDGs.

1. Staffing Shortages: A persistent lack of qualified early childhood educators undermines the operational capacity of child care centers.
2. Inadequate Compensation: Centers struggle to offer family-sustaining wages and benefits to staff, which conflicts with the principles of SDG 8 (Decent Work). This wage pressure makes it difficult to attract and retain a skilled workforce.
3. Affordability vs. Viability: The economic model for child care is fundamentally broken. Centers cannot raise prices to cover the true cost of quality care, including fair wages, without becoming unaffordable for the families they serve.

Strategic Priorities and Opportunities for Action

Addressing this crisis requires a multi-faceted approach informed by research and community engagement. Research from the CandL network has identified three key priorities for building a sustainable child care system that supports the SDGs:

1. Ensuring child care is trustworthy and of high quality.
2. Making child care affordable for all families.
3. Guaranteeing access to child care when and where it is needed.

Furthermore, opportunities exist to build capacity and foster innovation. The 2026 Smart Start Conference has issued a call for workshop proposals, inviting experts to share knowledge and solutions. This initiative aligns with SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by fostering collaboration. Key areas for development include:

• Early Care and Education
• Child, Family, and Community Health
• Family Support and Engagement
• Data, Learning, and Evaluation
• Systems Building and Leadership
• Public Engagement, Advocacy, and Fund Development

1. Addressed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• SDG 4: Quality Education – The article’s central theme is the closure of child care centers, which directly impacts access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education. The text highlights the “net losses… in the number of licensed child care sites,” which is a core concern of SDG 4.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – The article discusses how child care closures negatively affect the economy by harming “working parents” and “local businesses.” It also addresses the decent work aspect by pointing out the inability of centers to pay “qualified staff the family-sustaining wages they deserve” due to financial pressures.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality – While not explicitly stated, the lack of affordable and accessible child care is a well-established barrier to gender equality. It disproportionately impacts women’s ability to participate in the workforce, thus hindering their economic empowerment and increasing the burden of unpaid care work.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – The article specifically focuses on the vulnerability of “geographically isolated” communities like Hatteras Island and Ocracoke, which have lost their only licensed child care facilities. This highlights a clear inequality in access to essential services based on geographic location.

2. Specific SDG Targets

SDG 4: Quality Education

• Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
• Explanation: The article directly relates to this target by documenting the closure of the “only child care center on Hatteras Island” and a similar loss in Ocracoke. These events represent a direct reduction in access to early childhood care and education, moving the community further away from the goal of universal access.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men… and equal pay for work of equal value.
• Explanation: The article connects to this target by illustrating how the lack of child care infrastructure prevents “working parents” from maintaining employment. Furthermore, it highlights the challenge of providing “decent work” for child care professionals, noting the struggle to pay “family-sustaining wages,” which is a key component of this target.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

• Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies…
• Explanation: The closure of a licensed child care center represents a failure or loss of the exact type of “public services” and “infrastructure” this target promotes. This loss directly increases the burden of unpaid care work, which, as established by global data, disproportionately falls on women.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of… or other status.
• Explanation: The article’s focus on “geographically isolated” communities demonstrates a disparity that leads to social and economic exclusion. Families in these areas are left with no options (“anywhere to turn”), creating a significant inequality in access to essential services compared to families in less isolated areas.

3. Relevant Indicators

SDG 4, Target 4.2

• Implied Indicator: Availability of licensed child care facilities (Proxy for Indicator 4.2.2: Participation rate in organized learning).
• Explanation: The article explicitly tracks the “overall net losses… in the number of licensed child care sites.” This number serves as a direct, measurable indicator of the availability of and access to early childhood education services within the community.

SDG 8, Target 8.5

• Implied Indicator: Wage levels in the child care sector and labor force participation of parents with young children.
• Explanation: The phrase “family-sustaining wages” is a qualitative indicator of whether wages are decent and sufficient. The impact on “working parents” implies a corresponding effect on their employment status and participation in the labor force, which are measurable economic indicators.

SDG 5, Target 5.4

• Implied Indicator: Availability of formal child care services (Proxy for Indicator 5.4.1: Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work).
• Explanation: The existence or closure of a “licensed child care program” is a direct indicator of the infrastructure available to reduce the burden of unpaid care. Its closure implies that the time parents (especially women) must spend on unpaid care will increase.

SDG 10, Target 10.2

• Implied Indicator: Access to essential services (child care) by geographic location.
• Explanation: The article’s comparison between geographically isolated communities losing their “only” center and other areas highlights a disparity. An indicator would be the number or proportion of communities, particularly rural or isolated ones, that lack access to any licensed child care facilities.

4. Summary Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: ednc.org