It’s worse than it looks…

Want to know what’s worse than a new report that shows that eight out of ten of the Commonwealth’s kids eligible for child care subsidy go unserved? 

That figure doesn’t include the impact of a $36 million cut in state funding for child care program in this year’s state budget. 

Last year the Center for American Progress found that 57% of all Pennsylvanians live in a child care desert. The shortage of care is particularly acute when it comes to babies and toddlers across the country, and it’s certainly true in Pennsylvania.  As a state, we rank thirteenth in the country for the largest and most troubling child care deserts. Parents eager to return to work simply cannot find quality child care options.

Now, CAP explains why so many of our communities are barren when it comes to child care options.  Pennsylvania simply does pay enough for child care.  While that’s especially true for care for infants and toddlers, its also true for quality care across the board.

For instance, CAP estimates that Pennsylvania’s subsidy rate is more than $15,000 short of what providers would have to spend to offer quality care for infants. As unbelievable as it sounds, when PCCY examined the gap between what providers are paid and what it costs to care for babies in a high quality program in or near Philadelphia, we found that the cost of care is close to $25,000 and providers are currently being paid about half that for babies.  It’s a system so broke that its broken. 

Fortunately, child care is a hot topic these days.  So much so that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services convened a meeting of child care and business leaders in Philadelphia to discuss ways to close the gap in access and quality of care.  Pennsylvania business leaders stressed the cost of $2.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy caused by gaps in available, affordable, high quality child care for the more than 430,000 working parents in the Commonwealth with children under the age of three.

What really got our attention this week was when Gene Barr, the CEO of Pennsylvania’s Chamber of Business and Industry addressed the HHS gathering, he said, “access to child care is a major, major problem for businesses.”  

“We agree that business needs to play a part in addressing this barrier to employment and business growth; its good for business,” he added.  

A tight labor market and the fact that 68% of all Pennsylvania children under six have two working parents may finally be the reason that we turn the corner on our child care deserts with appropriately paid, high quality child care programs that can flourish. 

That’s how we sow the seeds of a healthy next generation.

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Get involved today.  Visit www.startstrongpa.org and www.prekforpa.org to learn how. 

Contact PCCY’s Early Childhood Education Director Neli Sepulveda [nelidas@childrenfirstpa.org, or 215-563-5848 x18] for information about our upcoming event:  Baby Steps: Improving the Child Care Sector in Philadelphia One Step At A Time.