Polling Highlights: Missouri, Oklahoma, and Ohio Voters on Child Care Challenges, Workforce Impact, and Need for Action

In a new poll from First Five Years Fund and state child care organizations, voters in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Ohio say child care is a necessity for families and a driver of local economies. 

The September 2025 poll, conducted by the Republican polling firm UpONE Insights, found that, across all three states, parents have been hit particularly hard by child care challenges, with a significant number saying they’re having trouble finding work, are cutting back on basic necessities, and are putting off growing their families due to a lack of affordable options that meet their family’s needs. Voters across party lines see child care as essential to strengthening the economy, reducing crime, and supporting working families, and they strongly back state and federal action to expand access.

Voters are feeling financial strain, and child care adds to that stress.

• Roughly half of voters in all three states describe their finances as “only fair” or “poor,” and majorities expect little to no improvement in the next year (66% in Missouri, 64% in Oklahoma, 68% in Ohio).

Young parents are hit especially hard by child care costs.

• Nearly half of young parents in Missouri (47%) and Ohio (48%) say they are delaying having more children due to the high cost, and nearly two-thirds in Oklahoma (63%) say the same.
  
• Large shares of young parents are cutting back on basics or struggling to make ends meet because of child care expenses (47% in Missouri, 34% in Oklahoma, one in three in Ohio).
  
• More than 80% of voters in Missouri and Oklahoma — and nearly 80% in Ohio — say the ability of working parents to find and afford quality child care is either in a “state of crisis” or a “major problem.”

Child care is seen as a workforce issue.

• Nearly half of young voters in Missouri (47%) and Oklahoma (49%) — and more than one-third of Ohio voters overall (34%, including 56% of parents) — say they or someone they know would consider entering the workforce if quality child care were available.
  

Federal action on child care is overwhelmingly popular.

• Head Start is broadly supported: 78% in Missouri, 76% in Oklahoma, and nearly 80% in Ohio.
  
• Majorities in all three states believe greater investment in child care and early learning is a good use of taxpayer money (75% Missouri, 73% Oklahoma, 66% Ohio).
  
• Expanding child care tax credits is popular in all three states (63% in Missouri, 70% in Oklahoma, 60% in Ohio).
  

But all states want Congress to do more: 71% of Missouri voters, 72% of Oklahoma voters, and 69% of Ohio voters want additional federal action to help working families afford quality child care.