The Challenges of Childcare
We need a better childcare system.
Our state legislature has failed childcare providers. Governor Tony Evers called a special session on September 20, 2023 to address access and affordability for working families and the legislature basically gaveled in and out.
A childcare provider relayed to me that her own state representative told her when she suggested that the cutting of money would mean fewer childcare workers at her daycare center and, therefore, fewer kids: "Well, the moms can just stay at home with their kids instead." This isn't an acceptable answer.
On September 21, with a little help from my friends on the County Board, we introduced 2023 RES-159 supporting high quality, affordable, and accessible child care in Dane County. If the state is going to abandon its duties to care for and educate our children, Dane County isn't.
I am making childcare one of the challenges I prioritize in Dane County. On September 27, I participated in a Childcare Roundtable hosted by the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (“WECA”).
Luckily, on October 16, 2023 Governor Tony Evers announced that the state will receive $170M from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) as part of pandemic relief funds to continue to fund Child Care Counts. While this last-minute funding will certainly help, this is not a long-term strategy.
We need a long-term strategy to help with early childhood education. The problems of childcare are the same problems we face elsewhere manifested in children under the age of 5 (primarily). Inflation, slow wage growth, affordable housing, and underfunded mass transportation are just some of the problems facing childcare facilities. Childcare workers are underpaid and over-stressed. These problems won’t end before the FEMA money runs out; and the FEMA money is not designed to solve these problems.
Simply raising tuition fees is not sustainable. As noted in the resolution: “A study of 2021 child care rates by the non-profit Community Coordinated Child Care, Inc. showed that the median cost of child care for a 2 year old in Dane County was $245 per week. For a family with a gross income of $90,000 (two parents working $45,000 per year jobs), this represents over 14% of the family’s pre-tax income for a single child.
We need better, systemic solutions to make quality childcare affordable for everyone.