Although it accounts for about twenty percent of the land in the whole country, even with close to 700,000 residents, Alaska is home to less than one percent of the nation’s residents. Of the 683,142 residents, 17.5%, or almost 120,000 people, are under the age of 11. The Alaskan percentage of kids under the age of 11 compared to total residents is about two percentage points higher than the national average, but then again, Alaska has plenty of space for growing kids to run around and play.
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Although there is plenty of space for playing and freezing in Alaska, considering the enormous space of the space, it would seem like there aren’t a lot of child care facilities. In fact, there are only 218 centers and 382 family child care homes, making a grand total of 600 statewide facilities. Although the percentage of spaces in Alaska centers (77%) and family child care homes (20%) is comparable to national averages (82% and 19%, respectively) per capita, it would be interesting to compare the statistics of facilities per square mile or even per inhabitable square mile.
While we don’t know the statistics per mile, the percentage of children under the age of six who “potentially need child care” (either because they are in single parent homes or both parents work) out of the total number of children under the age of 11 are similar to national percentages. However, drastic differences come in when considering what kind of child care is requested. Infant and toddler care requests account for 52% as compared to 40% nationwide. An impressive 97% of the requests are for full time care in Alaska while the same request only gets 84% throughout the country.
Despite the differences in Alaska child care needs compared to national expectations, parents will still find Alaska a fulfilling and unique place to raise children. Suitable for the adventurous parent, there are few other places that will allow children to experience the wilderness as part of their natural surrounding the way Alaska does. The Last Frontier has plenty of space to welcome new and growing families.
