Florida children’s advocates, businesses and parents pushing for greater access to childcare
Childcare advocates are hoping Florida legislators will look at making childcare more affordable for working parents in the upcoming legislative session.
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Dior Dollar worked in the childcare field.
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When faced with the question of returning to work after the birth of her daughter Willa, the Ponte Vedra mother found even with the discounted rate that came with her line of work, her family was unable to afford the $750 to $950 weekly cost of childcare.
“Realizing I couldn’t afford to have someone even come into the home to look after her so that I could go out and make that money was kind of a hard pill to swallow,” Dollar said.
Finding help to cover the cost of childcare can be extremely difficult.
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Madeleine Thakur with the Children’s Movement explained the income threshold for the subsidies is set at 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
That means in Florida, families with both parents working minimum wage jobs make too much money to qualify for childcare subsidies.
“With a rising minimum wage, in our state the federal poverty level is probably not the best place to pin eligibility. It just doesn’t make sense for the economy in our state,” Thakur said.
Advocates like Thakur are hoping Florida lawmakers take a look at increasing the income threshold to qualify for subsidies, to help more families afford childcare services.
Thakur noted the Florida Legislature has moved in a similar direction on other child services In recent years.
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“Last year there was a major move on subsidized healthcare for young children, where we moved that threshold for eligibility from 215 percent of the federal poverty level up to 300 percent and so we’d love to look at whatever makes sense in that range,” Thakur said.
A study conducted by the Florida Chamber of Commerce found a lack of access to childcare also has a big economic cost, causing nearly $3.5 billion in lost revenue for Florida business and $911 million in lost tax revenue for the state each year.
“They’re gonna be the best parent first, you hope,” John Birney, CEO of JBirney Financial in Flagler Beach, said.
Birney argued it makes good business sense for employers to adopt family friendly policies for employees, but the government has a role to play as well.
“And again, we need people working. We need the best people working and doing the best at their jobs and not to put a wall up in front of them being able to be the best employee,” Birney said.
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A recent survey conducted by Sach’s Media found 37 percent of working parents in Florida would even consider taking a pay cut, if it meant finding a job with more schedule flexibility and more family friendly policies.
Thakur argued not only would childcare reform benefit the workforce of today, but also the workforce of tomorrow.
“We’ve also got only 50 percent of children entering kindergarten each year who are ready to be there and in Duval County for example that’s about 5,600 kids who were failing before they even get into K-12,” Thakur said.
She noted childcare provides a pivotal opportunity for children to get a head start on life during an important period of development.
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“In the early years those skills like communication, collaboration, focus, ability to express your emotions and resolve conflict, all those things the brain is forming connections to do those kinds of things before a kid gets to kindergarten,” Thakur said.
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