Looking at the Causes and Possible Solutions of the Recent Child Care Provider Shortage
As the cost of living in many cities across the country continues to rise, more families are choosing to have both parents work to afford their lifestyles. In recent years, the tradition of having one parent in the workforce and the other one at home caring for kids has become harder to accomplish.
But as more American families choose to send both parents to work, the need for childcare and early childhood education has increased. Meanwhile, the number of childcare providers has been decreasing for the last several years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many childcare businesses were forced to close and many childcare providers left the industry. And even as some jobs have recovered post-pandemic, the child-care sector is still seeing a lack of workers returning to the industry.
According to an article published by the New York Times, several childcare providers have closed their doors or limited enrollment due to not being able to compete in the post-pandemic labor market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently 100,000 fewer childcare workers than there were before the pandemic started.
“Even as private-sector employment fully rebounded over the summer from the job losses caused by COVID-19, the childcare sector shrank and was 9.7 percent smaller in September 2022 than it was in February 2020, federal data shows,” the article reported.
The Child Care Provider Shortage Has Also Occurred Locally
Like most states across the nation, Colorado has also seen a rise in demand for childcare and a decrease in the number of suppliers. According to Rebecca Vlasin, the Division of Early Childhood Workforce Director for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), “The demand for early care and education in Colorado is greater than the number of providers, programs and professionals ready to serve young children.”
“Fifty percent of Colorado families live within a Child Care Desert – a geographic location where there is a significant shortage of availability of care for working families with infants/toddlers/preschoolers,” Vlasin explained in an e-mail. “The pandemic has exacerbated this shortage. If you are a parent or know families with young children, particularly single parents, you understand this lack of access in a very personal way.”
Causes for the Child Care Provider Shortage
The New York Times article reported that childcare program directors have given explanations like increased competition in the labor market from other sectors as to why there is such a provider shortage. The article also said that an increase in regulations like license requirements, vaccines, and masking rules also could play a role in keeping people out of the industry.
But according to an article published by ABC News, most experts say that low wages have been the number one driver of the staffing shortage in the industry. “A childcare worker in the United States made an average of just $13.31 per hour, or $27,680 per year, in 2021, according to the most recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” ABC News reported.
Locally, Vlasin said that there are four main factors that have contributed to the shortage: recruitment, compensation, working conditions and career pathways. “Until recently, there has not been a comprehensive system designed to recruit, retain, fully compensate and grow a thriving early childhood workforce,” Vlasin stated. “The CDEC has a team dedicated to this effort with a focus on increasing compensation for the field, reducing barriers and improving access to robust careers pathways in early childhood. Teachers working with young children make less than the average dog walker or parking attendant. With 90 percent of brain development occurring prior to age 5, the children of Colorado deserve early educators who are thriving in their professions, who are energized and ready to engage in caring safe learning experiences.”
Possible Solutions to the Shortage
Several states and cities across the country have implemented measures to try to solve the early childhood education staffing shortage. The New York Times article reported that conservative states like Montana and Iowa have responded to the shortage by relaxing regulations like increasing the number of children a caretaker can supervise and allowing 16-year-olds to care for up to 15 children.
The ABC News report discussed measures Washington, D.C. has taken to try to channel more money to childhood centers and teachers. The D.C. government provides several grants to child-care centers themselves and they launched a program this year that supplements educators’ salaries with payments of up to $14,000 per year.
According to an article published by The Hechinger Report, the city of Milwaukee has launched a collaborative effort where students in high school can work toward certifications to become educators to attract and keep workers in the early childhood education field.
“To spark interest in early childhood careers among a younger generation, the dual enrollment initiative was created as a partnership between local high schools, MATC, the state Department of Workforce Development and Next Door, a Milwaukee-based early childhood provider and nonprofit,” the article reported. “It also aims to create a pipeline of early childhood educators from the local community.”
In Colorado, Vlasin said that the state has launched several initiatives including a $45 million increase in workforce development investments. In Southern Colorado, UCCS, Pikes Peak Community College and Pueblo Community College all received scholarship block grants.
“Strategies include innovations that reduce barriers for teachers to access higher education, particularly for immigrants, bilingual educators and teachers of color,” Vlasin explained. “Targeted scholarships are being offered to help pay for college and other diverse pathways for career learning that bring coursework to teachers across Colorado in classrooms and family homes – where they serve children daily.”
Some of the new ideas that have been implemented locally include apprenticeships, mentoring for early childhood education small business owners and coaching opportunities for staff. Locally, UCCS offers 12 Bachelor of Arts apprenticeships and there is early childhood education business training offered through the Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center.
Vlasin also said that employers are partnering with the state to open early learning programs like one that recently opened in Steamboat Springs and another one that is slated to start in Pueblo. “Tax incentives for credentialed early learning teachers are in place and a pilot program to ensure that those who teach our youngest citizens earn a living wage and have access to basic health benefits,” Vlasin said. “We are so lucky to live in a state that is investing in its economic future and healthy communities with these important programs to grow and sustain the early childhood workforce.”
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