Nonparental child care is a key support for working parents and contributes to long-term child health and development. Yet high-quality affordable care that meets parents’ needs can be hard to find.

With less money from Washington, states are providing fewer child care slots, cutting reimbursements to centers and hiking family co-pays The first hint of trouble for McKinley Hess came in August.

It has always been expensive, but recently prices have risen faster than inflation. By Asmaa Elkeurti and Claire Cain Miller Child care has always been a large expense in parents’ lives. Recently, it ...