The shortage of childcare affects availability of workers for all public and private sectors. About half of our family childcare programs have closed since 2010, only 148 slots remain, and of the 801 licensed group center slots over 100 are unavailable due to no teachers. In Green County, parents of approximately 700 children need care for their young children. This impacts local businesses as they adjust hours according to staffing levels, employees job loads are increased, and people spend less. Public schools are losing staff and students due to open enrollment to other communities with wrap around care available.
Unemployment rate hovers around 3%; 70% of women already participate in the workforce (10% more than the national average) and that jumps to 95% once their children are in full day school. Some of these women may be choosing to stay home, but many report being unable to find consistent, quality, affordable care as their reason for leaving employment.
During the state budget process, Green County Development Center and the Green County Child Care Network held a roundtable to discuss the proposed Department of Children and Families addition of childcare as a line item to the State Budget. Parents, business owners, community stakeholders, and childcare professionals had a conversation with our counties elected State Senators and Representatives (Sen Erpenbach (D-JFC), Assembly Reps: Pope (D), and Novak (R), and Spreitzer (D). After, at Sen. Ringhand’s (D) request, a summary was sent. Sen. Marklein’s (R-JFC) office didn’t respond to the invitation. One parent, from Monroe, spent months calling 21 locations before finding a patchwork of care for their child. Business owners and school districts all report that they lose employees, have fewer applicants, or people decline offers because of the lack of care. Human resource departments are now calling childcare programs on behalf of employees, looking for care. The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) voted 12-4 on party lines to deny the motion to include DCF’s request in the budget.
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s (WEDC) 2020 Blue Ribbon Commission on Rural Development cited childcare as an important foundation needed for economic success both for today’s working parents and for our future workforce and entrepreneurs. Accordingly, in 2021, WEDC awarded a $100,000 seed starter grant to the county and the YMCA of Monroe a DWD/WEDC workforce innovation grant to expand their facility. Better wages and benefits for childcare professionals are imperative, for quality and availability of early care and education, but parents cannot afford to pay more than the current 12-24% of their income per child. Public investment at the local, state and federal level would create a working system. Increasing the wages and benefits for the highly qualified and educated professionals we entrust with our children’s care and education would allow more family childcare businesses to thrive and increase availability at group centers. In turn, allowing other businesses to recruit and retain employees because all parents wanting it would have consistent care, of their choosing, for their children.
— Child care matters is a series written by local childcare providers. Corrine Hendrickson of Corrine’s Little Explorers runs a child care center in New Glarus.
