Enacting Policies that Increase Access to Child Care is Critical to Sustaining and Strengthening the Nation’s Current and Future Workforce
Prior to the spread of coronavirus, Michigan struggled to provide care for every child that needed it. With 2.33 children per child care slot, working families lacked access to safe, quality child care. The spread of COVID-19 has worsened this problem to the brink of catastrophe. Since the pandemic, it is now estimated that there are 3.95 children per child care slot.
A 2018 Center for American Progress analysis found that 44 percent of Michigan families live in child care deserts, with poor access to licensed care and even where nearby licensed care is available, many families can’t afford it.
In Michigan, nearly 1.7 million households – 43 percent – could not afford basic needs such as housing, child care, food transportation, healthcare, and technology in 2017, according to a report by the Michigan Association of United Ways. According to the Michigan League for Public Policy, the cost of child care for Michigan parents with two children in day care is more than $17,000 per year.
With the cost of child care amounting to thousands of dollars each year, low- and middle-income families are increasingly priced out of the child care market and struggle to find a program they can afford. Lower-earning families were also more likely to cite location as a reason for difficulty, which is likely due to a lack of child care infrastructure in lower-income neighborhoods and, perhaps, barriers to accessing affordable and reliable transportation. Together, these factors can constrain child care choices for low- and middle-income families.
A recent survey by Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation illustrates that beyond being a barrier to employment, access to child care is also a crucial barrier to reopening the state’s economy. The survey found that less than half – 2,917 of 6,000 – licensed child care facilities statewide are open due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Roughly half of all available child care slots in licensed child care centers across the country are at risk of disappearing because of the pandemic, according to a recent analysis by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Center for American Progress that looks at data collected by both groups.
For the child care facilities that remain open during the pandemic, it costs more to keep things running safely. The CDC guidelines recommend ramping up cleaning and sanitizing, taking toys out of circulation when kids put their mouths on them, spacing kids further apart during nap times and staggering the times that they are allowed out on the playground.
In an effort to address this issue, in late July, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 7027 – the Child Care is Essential Act – legislation introduced by Rep. Haley Stevens from Michigan.
The Child Care is Essential Act would create a $50 billion Child Care Stabilization Fund and invest in child care so that providers across the nation have the resources they need to safely reopen. Without adequate investments in the child care industry, families across the country will be unable to return to work.
Without adequate support from the federal government, Michigan could lose 121,264 licensed child care slots, approximately 41 percent of the child care supply. The $1.4 billion Michigan would receive from the Child Care is Essential Act would help child care providers stay open, keep employees on payroll, and safely operate under new guidelines.
Highlights of the Child Care is Essential Act include:
Stabilization grants for personnel costs, sanitation and cleaning, training and other goods and services needed to maintain or resume operation of the child care program.
Support for child care workers. This bill requires employers to keep child care workers on payroll at the same compensation level as pre-COVID as a condition of receiving stabilization grant funds.
Support for working families by requiring providers to relieve families of copayments or tuition.
Promotion of health and safety through compliance with public health guidance. Under this legislation, open providers would be required to meet health and safety guidance from the CDC and state and local authorities.
Enacting policies that increase access to child care is critical to sustaining and strengthening the nation’s current and future workforce. Greater access to high-quality child care and early learning programs will support mothers so they can work and will benefit children, leaving them better prepared for kindergarten and to be productive citizens when they grow up.
Child care MUST be central to any policy effort to promote gender equity, grow the nation’s workforce, and bolster the economy.
Luann Dunsford, CEO, Michigan Works! Association