A monthly early education newsletter from EdSource
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Childcare: How can it cost parents so much and pay teachers so little?
As parents of young children are all too aware, the cost of childcare may be one of a family's single biggest expenses each month. Some parents even
leave the workforce because their wages do not cover the price of care.
Yet, we also read that early education teachers themselves are paid so little they may need public assistance to get by. How can both be true? According to a new report from the Center for American Progress, "The high cost of child care, coupled with low teacher wages and quality concerns, is confusing to parents and policymakers alike."
Using data from all 50 states, the report finds:
- In no state does the cost of center-based infant or toddler child care meet the federal definition of affordable, or no more than 7 percent of annual household income. In 12 states, including California, the cost of child care for one infant exceeds 20 percent of the state median income.
- By creating a sample budget for a child care center charging the average U.S. cost, the researchers found that tuition barely covered centers' expenses when all costs were factored in: "it becomes apparent that the system is broken: Parents are stretched thin, teachers are underpaid, and programs are struggling to stay solvent."
- In California, center-based infant care that meets minimum credentials now costs 22% as a share of median family income. With improved quality standards, including higher pay for teachers, that cost rises to 37% putting high-quality programs totally out of reach for many.
- The report concludes that "significant public investment is ultimately the only way to address the lack of affordable, quality child care in the early childhood system" while also paying teachers a living wage. The authors recommend that states prioritize funding for early childhood and "make significant changes to their subsidy systems, increasing the number of eligible families and increasing the reimbursement rate providers receive to actually cover the cost of a high-quality program."
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An obstacle to governor-elect Gavin Newsom's goal of a cradle-to-career education system for California is the lack of quality preschool for all the state's children.
Join us for a live webinar
Monday, Dec. 10 from 11 am to noon
for a
discussion moderated by EdSource's Louis Freedberg. Experts on early education will look at constraints and opportunities in California's early education system and what we can learn from New Jersey, a state known for its high-quality public preschools.
Speakers include Stanford professor
Deborah Stipek
, the lead author on the early education studies in the Getting Down to Facts project, and Beth Meloy, an early childhood expert
at the Learning Policy Institute, who will provide the California context.
Ellen Frede
, of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, will bring in a nationwide perspective and explain how New Jersey, which is held up as a nationwide model for for preschool success, went about piecing together its preschool programs into a more comprehensive system.
And, as always, we look forward to your questions.
When:
Monday, Dec. 10 from 11 am to noon
Go here
t
o read an EdSource report about Newsom's education plan -- and its costs.
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Early Education Reports from EdSource
Preschoolers take on math with the help of college students
Instilling confidence in math skills from an early age is the mission of a new math program aimed at California preschoolers.
With that in mind, the
"Preschool Counts" program enlists undergraduate students to work one-on-one and in pairs with young children to boost their math skills through games and activities.
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Building relationships with preschool parents, one conversation at a time
In order to help young preschoolers who are learning to speak in more than one language, one California school district is focusing on finding new ways to involve parents in classrooms.
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New California law requires day care centers to test for lead in water
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One CA county shows positive impacts of home visiting amid national trend
Education Dive reports on the impact of home visiting programs funded in part through a tax on marijuana sales in Santa Cruz, California, which has had historically high levels of child mistreatment. Santa Cruz's First 5 organization has worked to spread evidence-based intervention programs, with effective results.
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Chamber of Commerce president: Workforce training 'not just a college issue'
The U.S Chamber of Commerce is focusing attention on developing the future workforce -- starting long before high school. At a recent national conference, Chamber president Thomas J. Donohue said, "The foundation for skills development is in the first five years of life, before most children ever meet any type of out-of-house teacher. So the skills gap is not just a college issue or a classroom issue - it's also a childcare issue."
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