Child care crisis pushing Oregon families to breaking point, report finds
Fifteen percent of parents in Oregon with children under six years old had to quit, change or refuse a job because of problems with child care during 2020-21, according to the latest KIDS COUNT Data Book, published annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
And women are five to eight times more likely than men to experience negative employment consequences related to caregiving, the report found.
“As a state, we need to recognize that the lack of accessible and affordable child care is not only a concern for families but is also an economic issue. We must invest in policies and funding that prioritize supporting our working families and child care providers,” said Jenifer Wagley, executive director of Our Children Oregon, Oregon’s member of the KIDS COUNT network.
How does Oregon compare?
The report shows national and state trends in child well-being.
Data is collected and aggregated from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Survey of Children’s Health, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, and with the help of the Population Reference Bureau and the KIDS COUNT Network, which represents every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This year’s report showed that, overall, Oregon ranks 26th in child well-being, the same as last year.
States are ranked on a total of 16 indicators in four domains: Health, family and community, economic well-being, and education.
Oregon scored well on health, ranking seventh nationwide, and on family and community, ranking 16th.
It did poorly on economic well-being, ranking 30th, and on education, ranking 44th.
The education ranking is determined by children ages 3 and 4 not in school (58% in Oregon); fourth graders not proficient in reading (72% in Oregon); eighth graders not proficient in math (78% in Oregon); and high school students not graduating on time (17% in Oregon).
Focus on child care
The report this year took a special look at the expense and availability of child care nationwide.
It found that even if parents can find an opening for child care near their home, they often can’t afford it.
In Oregon, the average cost of center-based child care for a toddler is $13,700, the report found. That’s 12% of the average income for a married couple and 37% of an average single parent’s income in the state.
Nationally, the average annual cost of child care for one child was $10,600. That's 10% of a married couple's median income and more than a third of a single parent's income, according to the report.
A lack of accessible child care impacts more than families. It also costs the state's economy an estimated $2.15 billion per year due to decreased productivity, lost earnings, and increased public assistance, according to a report by the Oregon Child Care Research Partnership.
While parents struggle with the cost of child care, child care workers are paid worse than 98% of professions, the report found. The median pay for child care workers nationwide in 2022 was $28,520 per year, or $13.71 per hour.
The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the issue, with a recent survey finding that 70% of child care providers experienced a decline in enrollment relating to the pandemic, and almost half of them are uncertain about their ability to remain open.
How does Oregon help?
Oregon has taken steps to address the problem, including passing legislation to increase funding for low-income families to access affordable child care through the Employment Related Day Care program and supporting child care providers.
Despite these efforts, advocates continue to push for increased funding and policy changes to ensure that all Oregonian families have access to affordable and high-quality child care.
However, advocates say the Oregon Legislature's proposed biennial budget for the new Department of Early Learning and Care state agency would cause at least 1,000 families to lose affordable child care access through the Employment Related Day Care program.
Advocates are calling for at least an additional $100 million in investments to fully implement changes to the Employment Related Day Care program and prevent the need to kick families from the program.
Solutions offered
The report offers several suggestions for improving child care systems:
Federal, state and local governments should invest more in child care.
State and local governments should maximize remaining pandemic recovery act dollars to fund needed child care services and capacity.
Congress should reauthorize and strengthen the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, and increase funding for public pre-kindergarten and Head Start.
Public and private leaders should work together to improve the infrastructure for home-based child care, beginning by lowering the barriers to entry for potential providers by increasing access to start-up and expansion capital.
To help young parents, Congress should expand the federal Child Care Access Means Parents in School program, which serves student parents.
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Child care crisis pushing families to breaking point: Report
