Guest Editorial : Child Care Workforce and Reimbursement Rates
It’s no secret that child care in America is in crisis. Child care employment rates have struggled to meet the needs of families for decades, resulting in skyrocketing costs and parents permanently exiting the workforce to provide day care for their children. For many Californians, this isn’t news, this has been their reality for many years.
With thousands of care workers closing their doors during the pandemic, millions of families dropped out of the workforce to care for their children. According to data from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, California lost almost a third of care workers between February and April of 2020, resulting in some
3.5 million mothers leaving active work to make up for closed child care centers.
For the first time in modern history, Americans have been faced with few viable child care alternatives. The underfunded and overworked social safety net of child care operating in our state, has been ripped to shreds. With many care centers shuttered, child care centers are in high demand – leading to exorbitant costs, burnt out providers, and parents out of options.
According to the
Economic Policy Institute, before the pandemic, California ranked 3rd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for most expensive infant care. With soaring childcare costs you would assume child care providers were raking in profits, but the reality is exactly the opposite. Child care worker families are
more than twice as likely to live in poverty than other families, making less than
98% of other occupations. So why is child care so expensive? Child care providers have not seen an adequate reimbursement rate increase in years.
When reimbursement rates fall below the true cost of care, providers have to increase their prices – leaving families who need subsidized care behind. Payment rates for child care providers have increased just twice since the 2016-17 state fiscal year – with many of those increases coming in well below increases to the state minimum wage. Providers in Santa Barbara County, a county I represent, saw less than a
1% pay increase in 2016.
That is why Assembly Majority Leader Reyes and I are reviving efforts to increase provider pay while eliminating unnecessary fees for families who need the most assistance. The fact is, if we do nothing, then parents cannot get to work and California’s economy will suffer. According to a new
study, the nation’s infant-toddler child care crisis now costs $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue every year. It’s time we pay child care workers what they’re worth, to ensure children, their families and our economy can thrive.
