Opinion/Shallcross Smith: Quality child-care a must to revive economy
Mary Ann Shallcross Smith is founder of Dr. Day Care Learning Center and represents District 46 in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
High quality, affordable, accessible child care is not only a family issue, it is a business and infrastructure issue. Without child care, the economy cannot work.
These are very challenging times for families and the child-care industry.
At my great-grandchild’s 1st birthday party, I had conversations with parents about returning to work. Time and time again, I heard parents were offered employment but cannot take the position because they cannot find child care.
What is causing parents to be unable to find child care?
One reason is that child-care centers are struggling to find staff.
A recent analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by the UC Berkeley Center for the Study of Child Care Employment showed that the “child care sector suffered extensive job losses due to COVID-19, exacerbating a workforce crisis that existed long before the onset of the pandemic.” Child care is historically a low-wage industry. The current staffing shortage is affecting the child-care industry more than ever.
After years of stagnation, wages are climbing for many jobs due to increased competition in a smaller labor pool as people struggle to go back to work and sustain employment with the unpredictability of COVID. Child-care and human-service agencies cannot reduce staffing to help save on costs. There is a real concern about how child-care centers will be able to continue this vital service without increased funding.
Teacher education is another challenge for child-care centers.
There is more to teaching in early childhood than many people realize. We need teachers with education, training and experience. Not only do we teach children shapes, colors, letters and numbers, we are teaching social-emotional skills, cognitive development, fine motor and gross motor skills, language development and so much more. We are teaching lifelong skills such as sharing, communicating and problem solving while experiencing milestones such as first steps or toilet training.
Rhode Island has some amazing programs that offer education assistance, such as the T.E.A.C.H. program to offer discounted college courses. This is a huge help to increase quality in child-care centers and to increase the knowledge and expertise of child-care teachers.
Looking ahead to my 50th year as a Rhode Island child-care business owner, I believe the need for quality child care is more evident today than ever before.
If Rhode Island and our country are to recover from the current economic crisis, the child-care industry needs help. Child care needs to be available so parents can return to work. Child-care teachers need to be paid what they deserve.
Thank you to Governor McKee, Senate President Ruggerio and House Speaker Shekarchi for allocating ARPA funds to help child-care programs retain staff by increasing the compensation of teachers, as discussed at their press conference earlier this month.
These funds will assist child-care businesses in providing quality care and education, but it can’t be a Band-Aid — it has to be a long-term solution.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Opinion/Shallcross Smith: Quality child-care a must to revive economy
