SEATTLE (AP) — A dire child care workforce crisis amid a booming U.S. economy is compelling many industry players to turn to business tactics more closely resembling Wall Street than "Sesame Street" — including noncompete clauses for child care workers and client families, college tuition incentives for the workers and non-refundable wait list fees for desperate parents seeking day care slots.

Underlying the phenomenon is a shrinking pool of child care workers with employers still offering low pay while demand for high-quality child care programs skyrockets, particularly in expensive urban are...