LD 202, a bill to increase the number of children a childcare provider my watch before having to obtain a license, was signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills on May 29, 2025.
LD 202 permits unlicensed childcare providers to watch up to three children – not including provider’s children – within their household. This number can be as high as four children if two of them are siblings and no more than three of the children in care are 2-years-old or younger. Before LD 202, the limit was two children before having to obtain licensure.
Why It Matters
Maine faces a critical shortage of child care providers, driving up costs and limiting options for families. LD 202 expands child care options for Maine families and promotes economic opportunity to stay-at home parents who can provide reliable care for children in their communities.
LD 202 is a marginal yet significant win that should be used as momentum to push for more accessible childcare options for all Mainers who need access to these services.
Here are more ways Maine can build on this victory to continue delivering affordable childcare solutions to working families with young children:
Put Families First
Maine’s childcare over regulation puts working families at a disadvantage. Childcare, like most goods and services, is subject to supply and demand. When fewer private providers operate in the marketplace, price goes up as the number of available slots shrinks. Price also increases as the care environment shifts from private providers to large childcare centers, which are more expensive than at-home daycares. Parents are often unable to afford childcare due to the inflated cost of these services, often forcing one parent to stay home.
Reform Child-to-Staff Ratios
Maine’s childcare system enforces strict child-to-staff ratios with the presumption that smaller ratios enhance quality care. However, research provides little evidence that rigid ratios improve childcare services, and most states allow providers to care for more children at nearly every age group than Maine permits. Instead, Maine’s strict ratios significantly limit options for parents and drive up costs. To address this, legislators should consider policies that allow more children to be cared for by individual providers. By loosening restrictive ratios and licensing requirements, Maine can make childcare more affordable and accessible.
Promote Entrepreneurship
LD 202 allows for more entrepreneurship because at-home, private and unlicensed providers can make an honest living caring for up to four children other than their own. Yet there is still more room for entrepreneurial freedom and more childcare accessibility. Simplifying licensing regulations can give more home-based providers, especially those in rural and underserved areas, the ability to enter the childcare marketplace. This increased competition can drive innovation while making services more available statewide.
Other Issues Surrounding Childcare
Maine’s childcare crisis points to a broader social trend: the dismantling of family as an institution. A report by the American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life notes more young people are delaying marriage in order to avoid economic and social pressures. This claim, backed by a statistic from the Pew Research Center, says that 1-in-4 adults aged 40 have never been married. Issues such as rising childcare costs push marriage and children further off people’s personal agendas.
Being the oldest state in the country in terms of median age, there’s no doubt that Maine needs to get younger, and part of that solution is encouraging Mainers having more children. Accessible and affordable childcare will reduce the economic and social pressures young families are experiencing.