Nonprofit: Child care ‘sucking’ power from West Michigan economy
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A recent survey is highlighting the need for more affordable and accessible child care in West Michigan.
Schera Swagerty is a local mother with a 5-year-old son and has seen firsthand just how difficult finding quality child care can be.
“Even from the beginning before my son was even born, just looking for infant child care, the least expensive one I found was the YMCA and that was a two to five-year wait,” Swagerty said. “It’s kind of ridiculous, by that time he’s going to age out and won’t even be a part of it.”
She was eventually able to locate child care but it’s still not the easiest thing to deal with.
“I’m on a payment plan to pay it from two years ago but they still let my kid come,” Swagerty said.
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Swagerty is far from alone in her child care struggles.
In 2023, West Michigan early childhood nonprofit Vibrant Futures and economic development agency The Right Place launched surveys polling more than 1,000 families and employers in Kent, Barry, Mecosta, Montcalm and Ionia counties about their concerns regarding child care in the area.
“The question is to what extent is it a problem? And where is it a problem? And what do we need to fix first?” said Chana Edmond-Verley, CEO of Vibrant Futures.
The vast majority of families said the top issues continue to be affordability and availability.
Staff with The Right Place say to increase the region’s labor participation rate, knocking down barriers to child care must play a role.
“There are folks that are deciding to stay home because it just doesn’t make sense for them to pay for, it could be ($1,200), $1,300 a month that folks are paying for child care,” said Victor Joaquin, talent program manager with The Right Place. “Can we reduce those costs? Absolutely. But is there a way we can get at it through higher compensation or additional help from other sources?”
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Edmond-Verley said West Michigan alone is losing nearly $300 million due to child care issues.
Using the information pulled from the survey, Vibrant Futures will work with key stakeholders to figure out what strategies will move the needle in the right direction.
“We cannot wait. Child care is sucking all of the economic power out of the economy right now,” Edmond-Verley said.
Edmond-Verley said there has been success with the state’s Tri-Share Program, which splits child care costs between the employer, employee, and the State of Michigan. She added that discussions are also heating up about adding more funding to that initiative.
In March, a survey involving child care providers is expected to be released and in April, a report on some possible child care solutions will be created.
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