Collapsing child care system is its own crisis

We may not know how long shelter in place orders will remain in effect, but we do know that if they last longer than a month, the economy of Pennsylvania isn’t likely to rebound any time soon. That’s because a critical sector is collapsing, one that arguable powers all others: the Commonwealth’s child care system.

Statewide, child care centers employ upwards of 23,000 people but of course sector-wide layoffs are only the tip of the spear.

With close to 80% of parents with young children in the workforce, the importance of child care to the economy can not be overstated. No surprise then that PA’s Workforce Command Center named access to childcare as a leading barrier to employment. 

Approximately one-third of surveyed child care agencies in PA reported that they would not be able to remain open if the state-mandated shutdown last longer than a month.   

“When businesses are able to reopen, childcare must be available to support our economic recovery,” PCCY executive director Donna Cooper told reporters on a press conference call this week with PA’s child care advocacy organizations. “Lawmakers must realize it will be impossible for Pennsylvania’s economy to rebound with one-third less childcare capacity.

The much-ballyhooed Coronavirus Relief Bill that was passed by Congress and awaits the President’s signature does begin to end this crisis because it can mitigate much of the underlying issues, but only  if state legislators augment those resources with state funds and appropriate all these funds wisely.   

PA’s employers, families, and child care centers, need state legislators to support the clear strategy that PCCY and our partners crafted to guarantee early learning programs and child care centers are ready to support parents returning to work post-crisis:

1. Continue to pay child care subsidies and contract payments to Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs for the duration of the shutdown
2. Provide $17M to compensate for loss of revenues that would have been collected by providers as copays
3. Infuse $100M into the child care system to cover lost tuition payments  
4. Appropriate $50 million to extend Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs through the summer to stem early childhood learning losses for students

Not only would a child care bailout protect against a stalled economic recovery, but by taking dedicated action now, state legislators would proactively conserve unemployment funds, which, despite a federal boost, will see supply fall decidedly short of surging demand. 

We don’t know when this shutdown will end and it’s hard to imagine how exactly we’ll emerge from this pandemic. But we do know that should a third of child care centers are closed permanently, Pennsylvania will not be work ready and our economy will falter as states with adequately considered child care systems flourish.

Contact your state legislators and tell them the time for decisive, sage action is now.