BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

A new study of childcare in the North Country found that finding and paying for care remains a problem for families and is affecting the local workforce.

The Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College released the study Aug. 10. It surveyed residents in Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties.

The study was designed to give local governments, agencies and other organizations information about childcare needs and how those needs affect families and employment.

For St. Lawrence County, the survey shows that childcare availability, travel distance, nontraditional care and the ability to maintain employment are connected issues for families.

Impact on working parents

The report comes on the heels of news that several St. Lawrence County school districts won’t receive funding they’ve relied on for more than a decade to support extended-hour school programming.

After school and early morning programs are often crucial to families with working parents who rely on early drop offs and late pick ups in order to meet work obligations.

This year all St. Lawrence County schools that applied, were denied the funding. North Country This Week is still working on determining the reason.

The survey drove home the need for care in the area.

In the past two years, 58% of parents surveyed said a lack of childcare caused them or their spouse or partner to miss work. Half said they had to change their work schedule because of childcare problems.

The study found that childcare needs are affecting employment even further.

About 83% of parents said they use childcare to support employment, while 12% said they use it for education. 

About 22% of parents said they or their spouse or partner had left a job or declined a job in the past two years because of a lack of childcare. 

The study estimates that represents 8,761 potential workers across the four counties.

The study found that an additional 2% of adults had left a job or declined a job because they were providing childcare for family members or friends. Researchers estimated that represents about 3,963 potential workers.

The study estimates that about 12,750 adults across Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties have left a job or declined a job because of childcare issues. That is about 4.5% of the region’s estimated adult population.

Making up the difference

In St. Lawrence County, parents were more likely than parents in the other counties to use family members for childcare. Across the region, the most common arrangements were a stay-at-home parent or other family members.

Parents who pay for childcare reported an average cost of $185 per child each week across the four counties. The study did not provide a separate weekly cost figure for St. Lawrence County in its summary.

St. Lawrence County parents also reported the longest average travel distance they would accept for childcare. The county average was 14.6 miles, compared with 13.6 miles across the four-county region.

Safety and emergency procedures were the most important factor in childcare choices across the region, with 93% of parents calling them “Essential” or “Very important.” Security of the facility followed at 92%, and the ability to find childcare was at 90%.

St. Lawrence County parents had similar priorities, but they  ranked staff experience higher than cost when parents were asked about the factors they consider when choosing childcare.

Parents also reported needs for childcare outside regular hours.

Summer care was the most common need, reported by 53% of parents. Other needs included early-morning care at 36%, evening care at 28%, weekend care at 22% and overnight care at 12%. 

Parents said they would pay an average of $81 per child per night for overnight care.

Childcare also affects adults who care for children belonging to relatives or friends.

Seventeen percent of adults surveyed said they provide childcare to a family member or close friend. Among adults ages 60 to 69, the figure was 23%.

Poor rating

In the 2025 annual quality-of-life survey, fewer than 10% of residents in St. Lawrence County rated the availability of childcare as “Excellent” or “Good.” 

Across the four counties, 10% gave those ratings. When the survey first began measuring childcare availability in 2015, about 40% of North Country residents rated it “Excellent” or “Good.”

“Poor” was the most common rating for childcare availability in each of the four counties. Across the region, 38% of residents rated availability as poor. 

The statewide rate was 19%.

The study found that about 20% of adults in the four-county region have at least one child age 12 or younger living in their household. That represents an estimated 57,000 adults who need to arrange childcare.

About the study

The study included 2,562 adults in its first survey wave, including 555 from St. Lawrence County. A second survey increased the number of parents included in the childcare analysis to 623, including 73 from St. Lawrence County. The margin of error for the St. Lawrence County parent sample was plus or minus 10.8 percentage points.

The surveys were conducted from March 31 through April 11, 2026. Researchers used telephone interviews, email and text invitations to online surveys, and intercept surveys of military members and dependents at Fort Drum. The data were weighted for factors including age, gender and education.

The study was funded by Jefferson Community College, the Northern New York Community Foundation, the Development Authority of the North Country, the Jefferson and Lewis county boards of legislators and CarFreshner Corp.

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