Lack of access to high quality child care is one of the biggest missing pieces to welfare-to-work efforts.  The care available to most low-income women and their children is usually unreliable and substandard.  In fact, many former welfare recipients themselves work providing child care – in extremely unstable situations with low wages. 

So why is supporting child care and early learning opportunities important? 

Because it would provide a critical work support for low-income mothers.  It would improve devastating and often irreversible outcomes of at-risk children. 

But most importantly, it would raise the income and career opportunities of many people formerly on welfare, serving as a model of how to upgrade low-wage work into a desirable and supported profession.

Unfortunately, public and private funding is not providing the adequate funds needed to support high quality child care.

Many states have placed income-eligibility limits on child-care subsidies.  States also require co-payments from families, which makes quality care unaffordable to many low-income families. Further, states reimburse providers at less than the cost of quality care. Furthermore, many child care providers will not accept government vouchers because they need to maintain their bottom-line and maintain quality.

Yet with more low-income mothers in the paid workforce, demands continue to exceed the supply and the majority of eligible low-income children are not receiving subsidized care.

The average family earning $36,000, paying for care for a three-year old (at $8,800) and an infant (at $12,000), can spend up to 57 percent of their income on child care.  Earning more money does not solve the problem of access and quality because improving their income makes low-income families ineligible for subsidies.

Is this the best support to encourage families towards self sufficiency?

In the District alone, there are 6,300 full-time equivalent early care and education jobs – more than better established professions, such as public relations, public and ground transportation, and commercial construction. The early care and education industry sustains five times more jobs than investment banking in the District, according to an economic impact of early care and education industry study conducted by the National Economic Development and Law Center.

If we believe that high quality child care and early learning benefits the regional economy by enabling both low-income parents and caregivers to seek the professional advancement they need to earn more, which in turn will increase income tax revenue and improve the overall quality of life for everyone who lives in the region – there’s no question that a better trained workforce supports the region’s economy and attracts new capital investments.

But the job ladder in traditional child care is limited: teacher-aide, teacher, and supervisor.  The child care industry is characterized by long hours, social isolation from adults, few breaks, limited advancement opportunities, and poor compensation.

Job dissatisfaction produces high turnover– resulting in inconsistent, and often inadequate, care for children.

You can see the circular problem this creates, as low wages attract workers with few skills. 

Unskilled workers cannot provide quality child care.  High turnover further decreases the quality of care. Attempts to upgrade the profession fail because there is a lack of money and public will for better salaries.

There is a need for greater professionalization, for the sake of children and child care workers!

Given the difficult economic and social circumstances that many children of welfare recipients face, we (the providers) have two institutional points of contact–public school and child care–with which to improve outcomes of low-income children.

When it comes to early childhood development, there is a huge disconnect between child-development experts who make an overwhelming case for high-quality early care and education and the absence of the political will to acknowledge the need and spend the necessary funds.

A big part of this challenge is to recognize that people who work with our young children need to be well trained, paid appropriately, and appreciated as professionals.

We do know what it takes to professionalize the workers who care for young children.

What’s missing is the public will and financial support needed to make long-term sustainable change.  Investments in professionalizing the child care industry would support child care workers, women trying to transition from welfare to work without sacrificing early learning opportunities for their children, and all parents with young children in care.

HyeSook Chung is The Women’s Foundation’s Early Care and Education Program Officer.