The State government adjusted income eligibility guidelines for the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship Program on July 1, 2024, coinciding with the start of State Fiscal Year 2025. The updated figures mean more households will be eligible to participate, including  households of three people earning up to $95,283, or four people earning up to $113,432. As part of the Scholarship Program, households earning less than 85 percent of the state median income will pay no more than 7 percent of their incomes toward child care tuition cost shares. Families earning less than or equal to 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines (FPG) will have no cost share, and those with incomes between 100 and 138 percent of the FPG will have a $5 weekly cost share.

These changes also have implications for the State Legislature’s Senate Bill 404 that, if signed by the Governor, will allow families of child care professionals who earn up to 100 percent of the State Median Income and work a minimum of 25 hours per week in a licensed child care setting to enroll in the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship Program and pay no more than 7 percent of their household income toward child care.