A new report by the Itasca Group says the Twin Cities’ public and private sectors must step in to help a struggling childcare industry.
Why is this important: Child care is not only important for children’s development, but it is also essential to our economic recovery.
- 48% of parents with children under 18 who left their jobs in 2021 cited childcare issues as their reason for leaving, according to Pew Research Center.
State of play: The Itasca Project, a group of business, philanthropic and public sector leaders, said the industry faces three main challenges:
- High costs.
- Limited availability.
- A severe shortage in rural areas, low-income communities and for people of color.
The plot (for those of you without young children): In Hennepin County, it costs an average of $18,400 per year to care for an infant in a center and $13,800 for a child 4 years, according to Child Care Awareness.
- Minnesota has some of the highest child care costs in the nation because we have higher teacher standards and lower child-teacher ratios, the report said.
- While this ensures good quality of care, it also creates a system in which school fees are unaffordable for many households.
The Itasca Project said that in addition to increased public funding, industry needed employers to adopt more childcare benefits, and that businesses and philanthropies should increase scholarship funds .
What they say : Chad Dunkley, president of the Minnesota Child Care Association, described a situation in which many child care centers are supported by state COVID recovery grants that are tied to increased teacher pay and benefits.
- But he warned that if government aid disappears, providers will lose teachers and be forced to raise tuition fees further or even close.
Dunkley is also the CEO of New Horizon Academy, with 70 locations in Minnesota. It had 11,000 students before the pandemic.
- After losing all but 2,500 students at the start of the pandemic, New Horizon has rebounded to 9,000 children, but a teacher shortage is preventing the company from returning to 11,000 students, Dunkley said. This is despite a 9% salary increase last year.
What to watch: The subject is hot in the Capitol. Governor Tim Walz has proposed a $5.1 billion education budget that includes more child care support for low-income families.
- House Democrats are calling for tax credits to offset child care costs. A GOP spokesperson in the Senate said the caucus is focused on increasing supply by making it easier to start home child care.
Go further: Read the full report.
Comments are closed.