Gov. Evers, DCF Announce Wisconsin Shares Rate Increase to Lower Child Care Costs for Over 15,000 Families

MADISON — During 2025 the Year of the Kid in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF), today announced that Wisconsin Shares families will see an increase in their subsidy amount beginning this month, thanks to the governor’s investment of over $123 million in the Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program in the bipartisan 2025-27 Biennial Budget. With this investment, the maximum Wisconsin Shares subsidy rate will be at or above the price of 75 percent of child care slots. The increase, which went into effect today, will impact roughly 15,000 Wisconsin Shares families, with the average savings per family being around $174 per month.

“In 2025 the Year of the Kid, we’re working to lower out-of-pocket cost of child care for working families, help fill child care slots and cut wait lists, and ensure providers keep their doors open and lights on. Thanks to the investments I fought hard to secure in the bipartisan, pro-kid budget I signed this summer, we’re helping stabilize our child care industry and making child care more affordable and accessible—and that’s great news for Wisconsin’s kids, our workforce, and our state’s future,” said Gov. Evers. “Investing in child care was a brightline for me in this budget, and why I was proud to deliver over $360 million for Wisconsin’s child care industry, including investments that are helping care for 126,000 Wisconsin kids by supporting over 3,000 child care providers and helping retain over 25,000 child care workers. Giving working families a little breathing room in their household budgets while making sure providers stay open, kids are cared for, and workers remain in our workforce is a win-win-win for Wisconsin.”

The Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program, which receives most of its funding from federal sources, supports eligible families by funding a portion of the cost of child care while the parents are working or participating in an approved activity. Wisconsin met the legislative requirement for the maximum Shares rate to be at or above the price of 75 percent of child care slots for the first time in 2022, but with significant back-to-back increases in child care tuition prices as providers worked to fill the gap from reduced Child Care Counts Program payments, the buying power of the subsidy decreased. In 2023, the maximum Wisconsin Shares rate was at or above the price of 50 percent of slots, and in 2025, it was at or above the price of just 41 percent of slots.

“Since Day One, Gov. Evers has understood the value of our children’s futures and the essential work of those who care for them, both at home and while their parents work,” said DCF Secretary Jeff Pertl. “Gov. Evers’ investment in higher subsidy rates is a win-win, providing stability for today’s families while building a stronger foundation for tomorrow’s workforce.”

This announcement also comes as in August, Gov. Evers, together with DCF, announced that more than 3,100 child care providers across the state received a total of $8.7 million via the first payment of the Child Care Bridge Payments Program. The program, which will provide $110 million in monthly direct payments to Wisconsin child care providers through June 2026, was made possible through the more than $360 million investment that Gov. Evers fought for and secured in the 2025-27 bipartisan state budget to help stabilize Wisconsin’s child care industry and lower the cost of child care for working families.

The Child Care Bridge Payments Program is similar to the successful Child Care Counts Program, which was launched by Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration in 2020 and helped more than 5,700 child care providers keep their doors open, ensured the employment of more than 75,000 child care professionals, and allowed providers to continue care for more than 430,000 kids. Due to the quick work of Gov. Evers and DCF, there have not been any gaps in direct funding for child care providers caused by the winding down of the Child Care Counts Program. Funds from the first month’s payment will support the retention of 25,531 staff and the care of 126,181 kids.

Gov. Evers declared 2025 the Year of the Kid in Wisconsin and has made investing in the state’s child care industry to help fill available child care slots, cut child care wait lists, and lower the cost of care for working families a top priority of his administration and of this budget. All in all, over $360 million was secured by Gov. Evers in the final 2025-27 Biennial Budget. In addition to the over $123 million to Wisconsin Shares, the over $360 million in child care investments includes:

• $110 million in direct payments to child care providers to help providers keep their doors open and lights on, cut child care wait lists, and lower out-of-pocket child care costs for working families;
  • The new program makes monthly payments and monthly per-child investments in child care providers to ensure continued, direct support for providers as the Child Care Counts program winds down.
• $66 million to fund a new “Get Kids Ready” initiative, the first-ever entirely state-funded child care program in Wisconsin state history, which will support child care providers serving four-year-olds to help prepare Wisconsin’s kids for kindergarten and get an earlier jump start on learning at a critical time in development;
  • The new first-of-its-kind program in Wisconsin is also designed to help ensure the state’s child care industry will receive sustainable, ongoing state investments into the future after Child Care Counts ends.
  • Kids in the program will be taught by child care providers using a curriculum that meets the Wisconsin model early learning standards.
• $2 million to Wonderschool designed to help child care providers across the state build capacity to be able to cut child care wait lists and ensure more kids and families have access to affordable child care;
  • The grant will expand access to high-quality child care in the state, including launching an online software platform that is linked to the department’s website to connect child care providers with child care workers.
• $2 million intended to help bolster Wisconsin’s Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, which help parents find child care locally and provide training and technical assistance opportunities to child care providers;
• $28.5 million for a pilot program to help support expanding capacity across Wisconsin’s child care industry to ensure more families with infants and toddlers can access quality, affordable child care.
  • The proposal will increase payments to providers caring for infants and toddlers across the state through the Wisconsin Shares program.
  • Under the plan, providers would receive payments of $200 per month for every infant under 18 months and $100 per month for every toddler between 18 months and 30 months.
  • The investment will also help ensure more families and kids have access to affordable child care by helping providers accommodate more infants and toddlers under a new temporary pilot program aimed at aligning Wisconsin with peer states like Minnesota, enabling providers to care for seven toddlers between 18 and 30 months of age per staff member.

Gov. Evers also exercised his broad, constitutional veto authority to partially veto aspects of the budget that were outside of the bipartisan budget negotiations. More information about the bipartisan pro-kid budget signed by Gov. Evers is available here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.