Child care industry needs saving | Guest Opinion

Washington's child care industry was in a crisis long before this pandemic. The lack of access to, and affordability of, safe, high-quality child care has been harming our families and limiting our economic growth for far too long.

At the beginning of the year, 63 percent of Washingtonians lived in a child care desert, defined as a community where there are more than three children for every licensed child care slot.

Without child care, many parents drop out of the labor market or work fewer hours. Last year, a report co-authored by the Washington State Department of Commerce determined that in 2017 our state’s employers lost $2.08 billion due to child care issues, and that Washington lost a combined $6.5 billion in opportunity costs.

Child care, like most parts of the economy, has been devastated by the coronavirus global health crisis. Nevertheless, like other essential service providers, child care providers are risking their health and well being in order to care for essential workers’ children, so their parents can continue to work, protecting our communities.

Every day child care providers are saving lives by caring for children of the doctors and nurses treating COVID-19 patients. They’re keeping grocery shelves stocked and deliveries going by caring for the children of store and delivery personnel. Our economy and the healthcare system cannot function without child care. They are indispensable during this crisis and are vital to our economic recovery.

Most child care providers are small businesses that operate on slim margins. They have high operational costs, with a limited revenue source that comes mostly from private pay tuition. Some providers receive government-funded subsidies to provide care for families with very low-incomes, but the government-funded subsidy reimbursement rate for years has been significantly lower than private pay tuition.

Any reduction in attendance can be devastating for child care providers who rely on full attendance to make ends meet.

Not surprisingly, child care attendance is down, as many families can keep their kids at home while their parents telecommute. Other parents have lost their jobs or are working reduced hours. Some providers have closed because they cannot afford to keep their programs open with only a few children.

As of May 5th, 1,416 programs with the capacity to serve over 64,000 children have closed, representing 26 percent of licensed providers and 34 percent of licensed capacity in the state, according to data from Child Care Aware of Washington.

It is clear that without significant investment in our state’s child care system, more child care programs will close, reducing child care capacity even more.

In a groundbreaking national poll commissioned by Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) and Child Care Aware of America, nearly nine out of ten voters, 87 percent, support specifically targeted assistance for the child care industry to ensure it survives this pandemic. Significantly, this opinion crosses partisan lines with support from 82 percent of Republicans and 94 percent of Democrats.

Thankfully, the CARES Act recently passed by Congress allocates resources to support child care through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Child Care Development Block Grant.

This funding is a good start, but more investment is required if we hope to have a functioning child care system for our recovery.

Together, SCAN’s community of over 11,000 Washington State advocates, Child Care Aware of Washington's six regional programs, and the thousands of providers and parents they serve, urge our federal delegation to save the child care industry from collapse.

Robust funding for this indispensable workforce must be included in any future stimulus legislation.

We also call upon Governor Inslee and the Washington State Legislature to maintain child care funding in the state budget, and make the long overdue reforms this struggling industry needs.

The Washington CAN Act provides a pathway to ensuring that every family who needs child care has access to affordable, high-quality programs. Our state’s economy needs a strong and stable child care system now more than ever as we begin the economic recovery.

Voters across party lines have spoken. Child care is crucial to American families and essential for a strong economic recovery. Washington State’s leaders in D.C. and Olympia must listen to their constituents and put child care at the forefront of the funding agenda. Washington’s economic recovery depends on it.

This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Child care industry needs saving | Guest Opinion."