How regulation prevented a City Council member from solving childcare shortage in Duluth

After facing his share of childcare issues, when Arik Forsman was elected as a city council member in August 2018, he made it his mission to address the childcare crisis in Duluth. Coincidentally, businesses at the time were also pushing for more slots as the lack of childcare was preventing them from finding workers.

Unfortunately, for Forsman and businesses in Duluth, despite efforts, addressing childcare has proven difficult due to one reason — overregulation.

The Duluth Story

After a 2012 investigative report by the Star Tribune revealed overcrowding in home-based childcare, the Minnesota Legislature stiffened regulation enforcement. Partly due to these changes, some in-home providers were forced to exit the market, leaving a gap. Additionally, the changes made it hard for new providers to enter the market, further worsening childcare issues around the state.

To get around this issue, Forsman tried to appeal to a different type of provider — daycare centers. Specifically, he sponsored an ordinance that loosened zoning laws, allowing daycare centers to operate in mixed-use business districts. This ordinance was intended to make it easier for businesses — especially those in manufacturing — to set up childcare facilities for their workers.

However, despite the zoning changes businesses still found it hard to make childcare work. Reason? Overregulation made operations impossible.

As one couple told the Washington Post;

You almost have to be a philanthropist to do this,” said Laura Weintraub, who runs Aimclear with her husband, Marty. “We just aren’t sure how we can deal with all the regulations, all the staffing, and still pay the child-care workers a living wage.”

For businesses that had enough capital and were willing to expand their childcare facilities, one issue remained — they could not find workers who could meet Minnesota’s stringent education and training requirements willing to do the job for the low wages.

Childcare is overregulated

From strict staff-child ratios to stringent hiring requirements, childcare (especially in daycare centers) in Minnesota is overregulated. This has led to both high prices and scarcity. Scarcity is especially an issue in greater Minnesota as family childcare providers are exiting the market in droves.

Without regulatory reform, efforts to address childcare won’t yield substantial results. Duluth is merely an illustration of that fact.