America's child care shortage is pushing military families to a breaking point

Erin Williams has jumped out of airplanes, led a platoon in Afghanistan and earned an Ivy League degree with three young children at home. But the hardest thing to navigate in her military careeris finding child care.

“Child care is the only thing that has made me consider leaving military service,” said Williams, an Army officer who is currently serving at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. “I’ve worked for awesome leaders, and I think I’ve done a good job leading, but the logistics and constant stress that come from child care is truly the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with.”

Families across the country have been increasingly struggling with the soaring cost of child care and monthslong waitlists after more than 100,000 workers left the industry and more than 16,000 child care centers permanently closed during the pandemic. But for military families — which frequently move on short notice, can be stationed in areas with few child care options, and work unconventional hours — the effects of those child care shortages have been magnified, with potentially wider consequences for the nation’s ability to retain its soldiers.

“It puts a strain on the marriage and the family, and some of our service members are choosing not to re-enlist because of the child care challenges, among other things,” said Francisco Jamison, who spent nearly three decades working in military child care programs and is now the chief of military programs and strategy for Child Care Aware of America. “That’s a dangerous thing. To have that be a factor makes it a very tenuous situation for our mission readiness and certainly for the recruitment of service members going forward.”