During the Covid-19 pandemic, child care took center stage as day cares shuttered, schools went remote and parents attempted to juggle their children with their jobs.The nation's infant-toddler child care crisis costs the U.S. an estimated $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue every year, according to projections from advocacy group ReadyNation.
Billions in stabilization funds from the American Rescue Plan Act earmarked for the child care sector expired last fall, which could lead to increased costs for families or centers closing their doors. "Supporting the early childhood workforce could include such things as making sure child care providers have access to benefits. We all know how much benefits matter, whether it's health-care benefits, or the ability for them to find high-quality child care for their own children," Fishman told CNBC."Programs that support additional training and education for child care providers are important as well.
The group won its first contract in 2021 and gained access to first-in-the-nation retirement benefits. Deborah Corley-Marzett operates an in-home center for subsidized care in Bakersfield, California. She told CNBC she would like to hire more staff to help support her and the children, but it is difficult to find the right fit and offer competing wages in this environment. Low-wage workers in the state's fast-food sector, for example, just secured a historic $20 an hour minimum wage, pressuring other sectors to keep up.