Lee Williams: Spokane is having a real childcare crisis and needs the help of the stimulus

The Spokesman Review article on Tuesday (July 14th) states: “Childcare payments begin this week; The Democrats are pushing for it to be permanent, ”there are several statements by economists regarding childcare provision, the workforce and the use of incentives by parents to allow them to pay for childcare. I want to make these statements clear as they do not accurately reflect what is happening in childcare in our community.

Childcare issues are very complex, both from the point of view of childcare companies and families who count on childcare to create early learning opportunities for their child, to enable access to work and also to attend an apprenticeship or study.

From the childcare company’s perspective, there is a fundamental need to support and sustain the company in order to provide a high quality early learning experience and to help parents attend school or work. The article pointed to a lack of childcare facilities; this is technically correct, but it simplifies a more complex and worse situation. The reasons for the lack of offer are attributed to things that cannot be traced back to the need for more childcare places.

Some childcare facilities may be able to provide more places for children, but cannot afford to take advantage of the low government fees for caring for families whose income entitles them to support. This rate is often only a fraction of the real cost of running a program.

There are childcare companies that have enough space but cannot find qualified teachers due to a lack of staff. In most cases, childcare pays a minimum wage that is not a living wage, especially in order to raise our children in the critical first 5 years.

Childcare companies do not have the revenue parents can pay to buy quality learning and play materials and / or carry out necessary repairs or conversions to provide safe, quality learning space. Between 70-90% of the income is used solely to pay the minimum wage required to pay the legally required labor for teaching children.

The business model of childcare is broken and needs the help of the impulse to finally make substantial and sustainable changes for the development of high-quality and sustainable childcare.

Families will choose to spend their incentive on helping their families, but the small monthly payments will not allow them to pay their childcare program the revenue it needs to bridge the gap between what the state pays in grants , and to fill the real cost of care for that child. This is not allowed under the Washington Administrative Act.

Families who can pay more for food, clothing, transportation, or other living expenses may be able to pay more for quality childcare, but those incomes are not enough to raise ECEC workers’ wages. In most programs, the remuneration of educators corresponds to or just above the minimum wage. This is not enough to keep the workforce or to attract new teachers for early learning.

The bottom line is that Spokane is having a real childcare crisis. This family incentive will do very little to alleviate the systemic problems of maintaining high quality ECI programs. As a community, we need to find real, lasting solutions to support our families and childcare, a small business struggling to pay its employees a living wage and support families who need them.

Lee Williams is the chief executive officer of Community-Minded Enterprises.