Child Care

Three members of the first Idea Accelerator Iowa City cohort studied the child care workforce crisis by implementing a short-term test of a $4 an hour raise for participating child care workers.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Thursday that will relax some staffing regulations for Iowa child care centers.

Mother's Milk Bank of Iowa Director Jean Drulis and UnityPoint Pediatrician Dr. Katie Halyko join the conversation. Then, Charity Nebbe talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks about her latest novel, Horse.

The annual County Health Rankings rated Dallas County as the healthiest county in Iowa, and Montgomery County as the least healthy.

It’s been two years since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Iowa, and the pandemic has had a drastic impact on Iowans’ lives and the state’s health care system. That's as Iowans settle into a new normal of living with and monitoring the virus.

In Iowa, the rate of maternal death is rising. At the same time, the number of birth centers and OB/GYNs is falling. Some advocates argue midwives could be part of the state's solution.

A lack of child care options is stunting the growth of some rural towns. In order to stay alive, the town of Marcus in northwest Iowa is addressing that need.

The Republican-led Iowa House of Representatives passed two bills Wednesday aimed at expanding access to child care, but Democratic lawmakers warned the proposals could negatively affect providers, parents and children.

Rep. Ann Meyer of Fort Dodge and Rep. Tracy Ehlert from Cedar Rapids join IPR state government reporter Katarina Sostaric and host Ben Kieffer to discuss bills addressing Iowa's child care issues. Before that, a conversation with a Des Moines parent about her struggles to find affordable child care and how the workforce shortage is connected to these issues.

A panel of Iowa state representatives advanced the first pair of bills to come out of the governor’s child care task force Wednesday.