Too Few Children Have Access to High Quality Early Childhood Education Programs
DOYLESTOWN, PA (February 10th, 2014) – PCCY’s latest report “The Bottom Line is Children: Early Care and Education in Bucks County” finds that because of a lack of state investment, only about a third of low and moderate income children have access to high quality early learning programs. More than 5,000 additional seats are needed to fill the gap.
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- Less than 20% of licensed child care programs are considered high quality.
- 96% of all children under five do not attend a highly rated private child care program.
- Nearly three quarters of Bucks County families depend on child care because both parents work.
- Only a third of hard working families are getting assistance to help pay for child care.
Research shows that low-income and middle class children who participate in high quality early childhood education programs are more likely to graduate from high school and obtain high paying jobs.
“Quality counts when it comes to early education programs for our children,” said Shawn Towey, Child Care Policy Coordinator for PCCY. “Unfortunately only about one in five licensed child care programs in Bucks County are considered high quality.”
State budget cuts have made it difficult for a majority of low-and-moderate income Bucks County families to enroll their children in high quality programs. PCCY’s report says “state cuts made to the child care subsidy program reduced the number of slots available in Bucks County by 21% or 395 children in the last five years.”
“It is unacceptable to deprive our children of quality early learning programs they need to prepare for school,” said Stacy Helton, Director of Tabor Children’s House. “Our lawmakers must listen to the decades of research and increase investments in early childhood education.”
For Bucks County families who are not eligible for child care subsidy, the costs associated with child care can make up a considerable amount of the family budget. The median cost of child care for a typical family of four with two young children is $23,449. A high quality center can cost significantly more. The median cost of care is similar across southeastern Pennsylvania.
“Families should not have to break the bank to provide high quality early care for their children,” said Nancy Morrill, President of the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition. “With the costs of child care now rivaling the costs of college, changes need to be made to take the burden off hard working parents so their children can get the start they need in life.”
The good news for Bucks County is families eligible for child care subsidy have trended away from using unlicensed, relative/neighbor care. Since 1997, the use of such care has dropped from 25%, to only 4% today.
“It is great that an overwhelming majority of Bucks County children are enrolled in regulated programs,” said Pat Miiler, Bucks County Quality Child Care Coalition Coordinator. “However, the State must do much more to provide access to high-quality care for all our kids.”
To improve early care and education for Bucks County children, PCCY recommends County leaders:
- Support the Pre-K for PA campaign with the end goal of providing high quality preschool for every 3-and-4 year old in Pennsylvania.
- Create a county-wide campaign to boost program quality that helps providers meet the one-time and long-term costs of quality improvements.
- Provide incentives to community colleges and other programs to boost offerings for adults working in child-serving fields to improve quality.
- Create a grant/loan pool from county economic development resources to assist child care facilities with capital expenses to help them improve the quality of services to children.
- Forge a partnership with other counties to advocate for the state to boost the child care subsidy for all eligible working families and reduce wait times to 30 days or less.
PCCY’s report, “The Bottom Line is Children: Early Care and Education in Bucks County,” is the final report in a four-part series looking at issues affecting children in each of Philadelphia’s suburban counties. PCCY’s previous reports on education, family economic security, and child health can be viewed at www.childrenfirstpa.org/bottomlinecountyreports