Investing in child care: Economic luncheon highlights need for affordable child care

Brendan Wiesner, The Sault News
·3 min read
Jessica Savoie (left) and Amy Scott-Kronemeyer (right) speak to the Sault community about the importance of child care and its economic impact at the 2023 Spring Economic Luncheon on May 18.
Jessica Savoie (left) and Amy Scott-Kronemeyer (right) speak to the Sault community about the importance of child care and its economic impact at the 2023 Spring Economic Luncheon on May 18.

SAULT STE. MARIE — Local educators spoke to the community Thursday about creating access to affordable day care in the region.

The Sault Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2023 Spring Economic Luncheon on May 18, with the keynote speakers focusing on the importance of child care and its economic impact.

The guest speakers were Jessica Savoie, director of early childhood at the EUP Intermediate School District, and Amy Scott-Kronemeyer, superintendent of Sault Ste. Marie Area Public Schools.

Savoie has an undergraduate degree in early childhood studies and holds a master's degree from Northern Michigan University in educational leadership. She leads the Northern Early Childhood Support Network and gives technical assistance to early childhood educators in 36 counties in Michigan.

Scott-Kronemeyer has a master's in education from Northern Michigan University and is currently working on her doctorate at Central Michigan University, researching instructional leadership.

Together, Scott-Kronemeyer and Savoie demonstrated the importance of child care in a community, and how little access to child care the community actually has.

They said one of the biggest issues is just having enough child care in the community. One reason why child care is lacking is because workers often get paid very little and have little incentive to stay.

"An in-home child care provider works roughly 65 hours a week and earns $11.37 an hour before taxes," said Savoie. "High school students working in the fast food industry are earning more per hour than our educators that are caring for babies and young children."

This often means that child care comes from immediate family members or cheaper, unlicensed care.

"Families that don't have reliable care may be forced to turn to unlicensed and, quite possibly, unsafe care just to keep their jobs," said Savoie. "Several families have a stressful burden of piecing together care with family and friends on a day-to-day basis."

Jessica Savoie of Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School Disctrict speaking about the lack of available child care in Chippewa County on May 18.
Jessica Savoie of Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School Disctrict speaking about the lack of available child care in Chippewa County on May 18.

The presenters said these issues often force parents to leave their careers, and it most often affects women. That, in turn, heavily impacts industries such as education and health care where women make up a larger percentage of the workforce. Those industries also make up a large portion of the local workforce in Sault Ste. Marie.

"When young female teachers started discussing that they may need to resign or teach online due to no child care, I was concerned about the future of my workforce," said Scott-Kronemeyer. "In fact, if a teacher resigns, you're ecstatic to get even one or two certified applicants. The reality is we are more than likely to receive no applicants with the credentials required."

This leads to an overall lack of care available, and the care that is there is expensive, while also not being profitable to workers. In Chippewa County alone, almost half of parents do not have access to stable child care.

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Sault residents in attendance at the annual spring economic luncheon participate in a display, the number of people standing represent all of the families in Chippewa County that don't have any access to child care.
Sault residents in attendance at the annual spring economic luncheon participate in a display, the number of people standing represent all of the families in Chippewa County that don't have any access to child care.

Even the families that can get child care often have trouble affording it on a regular basis. The cost of child care options can exceed a family's monthly mortgage costs. In Michigan, the annual cost of infant toddler care is comparable to a year at an in-state college.

The average single parent in Michigan spends 44 percent of their income on child care for one child.

Dozens of Sault residents gather to learn about the importance of child care to the economy at the 2023 Spring Economic Luncheon on May 18.
Dozens of Sault residents gather to learn about the importance of child care to the economy at the 2023 Spring Economic Luncheon on May 18.

There are solutions to the issue that were presented by Savoie and Scott-Kronemeyer, including investing in local programs to help in early childhood.

"If we want to be a thriving community that keeps our local graduates here and attracts new talent to the region, we have to supply affordable child care for employees," said Scott-Kronemeyer.

Investing in early child care is shown to reduce the need for special education, remediation and social services and leads to lower criminal justice costs in a community.

"Sault Area Public Schools invested in the community through their creation of the early learning center at Sault Township," said Scott-Kronemeyer. "This center will provide quality education for 150 children ages birth to five right here in Sault Ste. Marie."

— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Investing in child care: Economic luncheon highlights need for affordable child care