Whether you have children or not, your life is negatively affected by the national child care shortage.  Did you know nearly 3 million women have left the workforce since the pandemic began, with many forced to leave because of lack of childcare? If you don’t have children, you may not have been aware there was a problem, but have you noticed all the signs at restaurants and other businesses of the altered hours or delays due to staffing shortages? The lack of childcare is one of the main culprits. Our economy is dependent on our workforce and when families can’t find or afford childcare, they are left with few options. 

The pandemic has caused teachers to leave the profession altogether, not only do they not want to be sneezed on, coughed on, and wipe noses and butts during a global pandemic, but the pay is not worth the risk. However, the kicker is that the decline in providers started over a decade ago, with a 70% decline in family providers and 10% in group providers. Why, you ask? In Wisconsin, the average teacher makes $10.66 an hour, family childcare about $4.33, even though 52% of teachers have an Associate’s degree or higher. Teachers can literally walk in the nearest gas station and make more. We pay more wages to have our dogs cared for, which is not to say that our furry companions should not be well cared for, but shouldn’t the people that care for and educate our most vulnerable population; birth to 5 children, receive a worthy wage? 

Especially since the first 5 years are the most critical years in a child’s development. With 90% of brain development occurring before the age of 5, these years are the foundational ones establishing who that child will be as an adult. This is the part where all people are indirectly affected whether you are a parent or not. If children do not have quality relationships while being cared for in their early years, they are placed on a trajectory towards failure. Ever wonder why a 12-year-old is already in the juvenile justice system? Maybe ask what happened during their first 5 years of life, what kind of experiences and quality of relationships did they have? So now, instead of putting funds into their early years, our society is paying tenfold on things like special education, higher health costs, juvenile detentions, and as adults with less tax base income, along with increase in needs for social support systems. Knowing that in 2018 (pre-COVID), Wisconsin lost $3 billion due to lack of child care, imagine what our losses will be now?  

— Child Care Matters is a series written by local child care providers.