You
If you have children in childcare programs, expect tuition to go up and
availability to go down.
That's because temporary COVID-era funding takes place.
If you have children in childcare programs, expect tuition to go up and
availability to go down.
That's because temporary COVID-era funding to help providers keep costs down
and retain staff is set to expire at the end of June.
The childcare bridge payments of $110 million took up after more robust
federal stabilization funding ended.
Results from a new report and survey from the Wisconsin Early Childhood
Association show that three-quarters of providers across the state
said they'll need to raise tuition and a quarter of providers said they're
likely to close.
We're joined now by Paula Drew, Director of Early Childhood Education Policy
and Research for the Association.
And thanks very much for being here.
Thanks for having me.
So with costs up elsewhere for food and fuel, how are working families who
depend on childcare likely to respond to these tuition hikes?
I think families around the state right now are sitting around tables like this
asking themselves, does it make sense for one of us to keep working?
If it makes sense, should we work part-time instead of sending our child
to a licensed childcare program down the street?
Perhaps we should entertain a grandparent, a neighbor because the cost of
care is just becoming unaffordable to the point where those who have the
means to access it will and those that don't simply will be sort of like priced
out of the market.
Because what kind of tuition increases could we be talking about in general?
So 75% of childcare providers answered this question and they said we'll have
to raise our tuition rates at least $25 per week.
And so that's between $2,000 and $3,000 per year.
It's already pretty expensive.
It's already I think at the point where some families can no longer afford it.
So how meaningful was the original childcare counts program that used federal
emergency COVID funds to stabilize the industry?
The original childcare counts program was very meaningful and childcare
providers have been on record over and over and over stating this is the first
time I've ever been able to start a retirement account for our early educators.
We are actually accessing health insurance for the very first time.
Our early educators are earning a wage in which they only have to work one job.
It also kept tuition rates affordable for parents.
How much of Wisconsin providers gotten from both programs?
Hundreds of millions of dollars.
And so going from hundreds of millions of dollars over the past six years
to nothing, it's easy to see why your survey results show that they will have
to make some of these very difficult choices.
That's right.
For years on end childcare providers have been pending on this funding to meet the gap
between what parents can pay and what it actually costs to provide high-quality
childcare.
And without those funds most people within the field are asking these same very
important questions that parents are.
Should we close?
Should we let go of some staff?
Should we lessen the hours of operations that we have?
Stop providing food, stop providing busing, you know, cutting costs, right?
Both parents and providers are trying to figure out how they can make the math work.
So access to childcare is my understanding is that it's already difficult.
But how stunning is it that a quarter of providers might have to close their
operations?
It's very dramatic.
And I think when we dig into the numbers and we think about 25% of providers,
now 25% of group providers, that's a really significant amount of childcare
seats available in the state, right?
So family childcare providers can serve up to eight children at a time.
But group programs can serve hundreds of children.
So we're thinking about, you know, when you just think 25%, it's not just like
across the board in terms of how many seats we have.
And I think that's going to be really stark.
And I also would estimate that that number is likely going to be larger
than it was when the research was done.
Is there any prospect that the state would replicate this funding?
I would love to see this program be codified into law.
I think we have seen examples from all over the country.
States, red, blue, purple states making significant investments in the
childcare sector and seeing really big returns on that investment.
Anything's possible when you prioritize it.
And yes, we would love to see this program continue.
It had all the components that I think are needed to hold together at this
market.
For some policymakers, does that kind of funding smack of an entitlement?
It can.
And I think it's because the childcare sector itself is made up of.
For-profit, nonprofit, family childcare providers,
operating out of their homes, you know, large group programs.
It's hard to sort of wrap your mind around it versus like a K-12 system.
You need a teaching license.
You need a certain amount of education to meet the teaching license.
That doesn't mean that that's not also required in early care and education.
But it's not what you think about because of the fabric of these providers
in the state, you know, look different.
But I would argue, you know, a wage and career ladder for early care and education
based on experience and their own education is the same that is in K-12
schools, right, in which is publicly funded.
We see that as a public good.
What's happening over here is the same exact thing.
But it's entirely funded mostly by parent fees.
All right.
Well, Paula Drew, thanks very much.
Thank you for having me.
For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin,
visit our website at pbswisconsin.org and then click on the News tab.
That's our program for tonight.
I'm Frederica Fryberg.
Have a good weekend.
Thank you.
Yeah, I had three kids in child care.