By Corrine Hendrickson
Green County Child Care Network
Wisconsin is at a precipice. In the next few months, our state will decide whether it wants to support the most critical time in a child’s life for education or whether our state would prefer to support those children who did not receive a healthy start via our juvenile and adult prison systems. The link between child care and prison is undeniable and sobering. Ninety percent of brain development occurs before the age of 5 years. We know that when children receive quality early child care those children are more likely to graduate from high school, go to college, have higher income levels, and are healthier. They are also less likely to commit a crime. It is this research that facilitates industrialized countries to support early child care. Those countries that support child care have a low rate of incarceration. Whereas the United States is ranked bottom in the bottom along with countries like Turkiye and Cyprus in funding/support for early childcare. As a result, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. In the previous Wisconsin budget cycle, Wisconsin allocated about $60 million in our state budget for childcare, meanwhile, the allocated funds for prisons/jails were slightly over $2 billion. In this biennial budget (2023-2025) the state prison funding request is over $3 billion, child care is asking for $340 million additional dollars. In previous decades our spending on prisons has increased by over 300%. Our state spending represents our state’s priorities. Wisconsin loses over $4 billion a year due to a lack of child care. Investing in childcare is one of the highest rates of returns we have. For every $1 spent the average rate of return is between $4 and $16. With higher the rates the younger the child.
During the past year, the federal government provided ARPA funds for childcare which will be ending Jan. of 2024. The federal funds provided were able to raise the wages of the childcare workforce. Previous to the ARPA funds the average hourly rate was $10.66, the average now is $12.66. The ARPA funding was intended to stabilize the profession. As you can imagine, even at $12.66 an hour it is not sufficient to live off of and support a family. In addition, the profession generally does not have benefits like health care or retirement. At the same time, over half of our workforce has an associates degree or higher.
Governor Evers has requested $340 million for childcare in the upcoming 2-year budget. This amount is aligned with the current ARPA federal funding, it is essentially to continue as we were for this past year. Surveys were sent to childcare businesses across the state. The majority of businesses state that the ARPA funds make up between 20%-30% of their budget. With many citing they will close their doors if the funding does not continue. To maintain the budget with the $340 million ask, we will continue to have over half of the state in a childcare desert. We will continue to lose billions a year due to a lack of childcare. And when we don’t support children in their early years we are facilitating the increase in prison incarceration and costs at 10x more than had we support children during their foundational years. In addition, parents that can find childcare are paying on average 17% of their household income per child on childcare. Parents are having to choose between housing, food, medical care, or even having a job versus childcare.
In March this year, the Governor requested a $13 increase for correctional officers making starting wage of $33 an hour. I am sure those professionals are well deserving of a wage increase. But aren’t childcare teachers worth investing in so that they can make a living wage? Especially knowing how critical the job is not only for our children but for our economy. Governor Evers regularly states “What is best for our kids is what is best for our state.”
This statement is true, so why are we not following it? Why is the plan to continue to invest highly in supporting our prison systems and not our children and their future?
If we want to improve our state we need to improve our childcare system. The $340 million is not enough.
In the next few months, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) will decide if it will provide the $340 million ask. The JFC is comprised of 16 elected officials from around the state, 12 of which are Republicans. Republicans have historically voted not to fund childcare. At the same time, 81% of voters view childcare as a good investment. So the issue of childcare should not be a Republican or Democratic issue. This is the moment we hold our elected officials accountable.
Is the Co-Chair of the JFC, Howard Marklein, who is also a representative to many in this area, going to support childcare? The JFC has the opportunity to not only fund the $340 million but to increase the funding above the Governor’s ask so that we are actually fixing the childcare problem. Are our priorities prison or childcare?
