The Need

A child’s brain grows most from birth to age five, a crucial learning window that can never be regained. Every day across South Carolina we see the loss as children enter kindergarten woefully behind and on a path for underperformance and instability that affects our entire state.

There’s a clear line between quality early care and education for young South Carolinians and a productive quality of life for all South Carolinians. From a lack of child care affordability and access to meager teacher pay and resources, we face an ever-growing deficit. What’s equally clear? The potential return on investment if we create a child care system that works.

Critical Gaps in Child Care

42%

South Carolinians who live in a child care desert

Source: Early Childhood Education in South Carolina 2022 Fact Sheet, First Five Years Fund

54%

Children age 3–4 not enrolled in preschool

Source: For Our Future: South Carolina’s Birth through Five Plan, SC Early Childhood Advisory Council

27%

Rising kindergarteners who achieve school readiness

Source: For Our Future: South Carolina’s Birth through Five Plan, SC Early Childhood Advisory Council

$0–10

Hourly wage for 50% of child care workers in SC

Source: Early Childhood Education in South Carolina 2022 Fact Sheet, First Five Years Fund

$11K+

Average annual cost for center-based infant care

Source: Market Rate Survey, DSS, 2021

The Return on Investment

$16+

Economic return for every $1 dollar invested in early education

Source: For Our Future: South Carolina’s Birth through Five Plan, SC Early Childhood Advisory Council