Child care in America is at a tipping point.
Leena Lane, who runs a daycare out of her home, said, “Due to the Covid crisis, I was laid off for four months.
The industry has lost nearly 100,000 workers in two years.
Mindy Binderman, who runs GEARS, an advocacy group in Georgia for early education, says it all comes down to money.
“The challenge with child care is that dollars and cents don’t work out on their own. Child care programs have to pay teacher salaries, pay rent, pay overhead, make sure their programs are high quality. , are not based only on the teaching of parents,” she said.
Factoring in a lack of stability and frequent COVID shutdowns, programs have struggled to find people for those critical child-rearing roles.
“Elementary teachers are some of the lowest paid professionals, and they average $12-$13 an hour. They can go to Walmart, they can go to call centers and make a lot more money,” Binderman said.
Lane has saved herself and her business from dying out through experience and appreciation. He is also among several childcare centers that accepted the grant money. The 2021 US rescue plan provided $39 billion in child care relief funds that are starting to run out.
When she faces retirement, Lane will be looking for her replacement, a man who does everything she does at that level.
Although for now things are going well.
“They’re like extended family to my family,” Lane said.
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