Prepared for the Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals

Polaskova, Renata

Prepared for the Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals.Polaskova, Renata. (1999). Why We Should Invest Money in Child Care.. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/205158

University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy

S9901CURA PROJECTMay 10, 1999Why We Should Invest Money In Child Care?Prepared byRenata PolaskovaforAlliance of Early Childhood ProfessionalsCURA RESOURCE COLUECT10NCenter for Urban and ReglonN AftrirtUniversity of Minn—oto330 Humphrey CenterAlliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246I. Introduction and MotivationEvery day, about 230,100 children younger than six are placed in child care in Minnesota.This means that three out of five young children and half of all children younger than threespend some or all of their day being cared for by someone other than their parents. This dataillustrates why it is important to deal with the child care industry.There are problems and challenges in the child care industry in Minnesota. In particular,families with low income jobs have difficulties to pay for child care. Then they are forced touse poor quality child care, what have further impacts on child development in the future.How to improve affordability of child care in Minnesota, the study will focus on followingfive questions:• What is the role of child care in the development of a child?• What are the main indicators of good quality of child care?• How child care is affordable for families in Minnesota?• What are the factors that help families to get out of poverty?• What are the government funds invested in early childhood development?The main purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the child care system ofMinnesota and give updated information about the system. The report describes the mainindicators of good quality child care, and why society should pay more attention, and investmore financial resources on child care in order to improve and sustain quality of children'slives. The report also outlines, how our society can contribute from subsidized child careand how child care is not only important for child development but also improves economicdevelopment of the state. The intent of the report is to increase awareness of childhooddevelopment and to advocate for affordable, good quality child care.Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246II. The role of child care in child developmentThe growth and development of children are determined in a large part by four socialsystems, which are inter-connected and operating in a synergistic way. The family and childcare play a crucial role and significantly influence the development of children. They havelong-lastmg consequences on the future educational progress of children. Two of the othersystems are health care and schooling. All four of them together determine and effect childfuture development. [1]For example, parents who are forced to use unreliable, poor-quality child care oftenexperience stress and guilt, which in turn reduces the quality of family life. Furthermore,children who must spend long hours in poor quality child care during their preschool yearsmay be ill prepared to begin and succeed in school.The National Child Care Survey of infants and toddlers placed in child care centers byemployed mothers indicates that 76% spent at least 35 hours a week in child care; for infantsand toddlers in family day care the figure was 69%. Of the nearly 80% of 3- and 4-year-oldswho were in some type of out-of-home care, 55% spent 35 hours a week or more in childcare. Child care is not only a service essential to the well being of children but it alsopermits parents to work and improve the living standard, what contribute to the stability offamily.Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246HI. What Is Good Quality Child Care?Child care quality is linked to child outcomes. There are several indicators that influencegood quality of child care. The most important are: 1) caregiver behavior, 2) caregivertraining, 3) a developmentally appropriate curriculum, 4) reasonable group size, 5) adequacyof physical environment, 6) low turnover rates, and 7) motivation of staff through wages.[2]This part of the paper will explore the turnover of staff in child care staff and their wagesbased on the results of the survey of Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals conducted in1997.Graph 1. Turnover Rates in Child Care Programs50% TS. 40% +n°: 30% [^ 20%c^ 10% }0%43% 40%21%11%Directors Teachers Assistant Teachers AidesAs can be seen from graph 1., turnover is highest among assistant teachers, followed by aids.Annual turnover rates for all positions in child care programs, except director, are higherthan the 13.2 percent annual average turnover rate of all workers in the north central regionof the United States.WagesFamily child care homes are run as private, for profit small businesses. Family child careprovider median net income in 1997 was $8,743 with ten percent of respondents reportingnet losses. Total median business expenses, including business expenses for use of the home,were $13,095. Controlling for inflation2, average net family child care provider incomeincreased by $1,255.40 between 1995 and 1998. Table 1. shows median wages ofchild care center staff. [3]Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. "BNA's Quarterly Report on Job Absence and Turnover." Bulletin toManagement (vol. 49,No.lO-Part II) March 12,1998.2 The United States Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) is used in this report to adjust forinflation.Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246Table 1. Median wages: Child Care Center StaffCenter Sm-veyStaff SurveyDirector$12.09$12.74Teacher$9.61$9.02AssistantTeacher$7.75$7.00Aide$6.25$6.10Data Source: Minnesota Early Childhood Workforce StudyGraph 2. provides a comparison of median hourly wages between child care professionals inMinnesota and other occupations in years 1996 and 1997. As seen from graph, child careindustry belongs among those professions which has low median income in comparison withother occupations, such as: medical assistant, dental assistant and registered nurses.Graph 2.Child Care Workforce Earnings in Perspective.0'^ ^' ^^ ^y .^°yu </" ^<?'10.44 11.499.507.41 8-74 qn7^u8.92y-^ 'u_^ ^ ;^ ^ ^•MN 1996DMN 1997Data Source'. Minnesota Department of Economic SecurityAlliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246Why We Want and Need Good Quality of Child Care for Our Children?A recent Carnegie Corporation study confirmed that the quality of child care have a profoundand lifelong impact, not only on their development, but on their well-being and chances forschool success. While research shows that good quality child care can help children'sdevelopment in a range of areas (including language, social skills, relationship with teachers,and self-perception), it also shows that children in poor quality child care are postponed inlanguage and reading skills, and display more aggression toward other children and adults. [4]Consequences of Child Care for Children's Development- Studies on Brain ResearchRecent research on brain growth and development during infancy indicates that by the timethey are 18 months old, children raised in poor environments may already exhibit cognitivedeficits of sufficient magnitude that they cannot be fully reversed.Moreover, researchers are discovering that a child's social environment may activatehormones that negatively and permanently affect brain functions like learning and memory(Me Ewen, 1992). These findings provide objective support for the long-held belief thatchildren who experience severe stress in their early life are at risk for developing a wholerange of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems. [5] The chances for developmentaldamage increase as a function of the number and magnitude of environmental assaults; thebest predictor of later pathology is the cumulative frequency of life events coupled with aninsecure attachment in infancy. (Gamble&Zigler, 1986). The implications for child care areclear: given that the use of supplemental child care the first year of a child's life is a mandatefor many families and not an option, child care must be of the best quality possible.Cost of Child Care in the United StatesAlthough social changes have brought a vastly greater need for supplementary care amongfamilies, the worsening economic plight of many of these families has made it increasinglydifficult to afford child care. Annual rates for the care of preschool children range onAlliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246average from about $2,500 to almost $4,000 a year; high quality infant care can cost upwardsof $6,000 (sometimes closer to $10,000) a year in some cities. [6]Basic Facts about Child Care in MinnesotaChild care is a fast growing industry. In Minnesota, employment in child day care serviceshas grown 47 percent since 1998, compared to 22.5 percent in all industries. Strongemployment growth in child care is the result of several factors. The population of childrenage five and younger has grown about one to three percent annually since 1972. [7] Moreimportantly, female labor force participation, particularly among women with youngchildren, has been steadily increasing for many years.The percent of Minnesota women in the labor force with children under age 6 is 71 percentand with children between 6 and 17 is 82 percent. This means about 650,000 children inMinnesota are of child care age (12 and under) and have working mothers.Difficulties -with payment for child careFamilies in Minnesota are struggling to find good quality child care they can afford. Many ofthem earn too little to be able to afford the quality child care their children need. There areabout 279,450 children younger than 13 who live in low-income families (with incomebelow 200 percent of poverty, or about $27,000 for a family of three). According to thestudy conducted by the Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals in Minnesota, child carefor a four-year-old in a child care center cost an average of $7,155 in 1997.According to US 1990 Census data, 37% of families in Minnesota with two children had anincome of $29,820 or less.Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246Child Care is not only child development but also important tool for economic developmentThe study ofRamsey County from 1996 shows that child care subsidies play a legitimate rolein economic development. More than 1,200 jobs are supported by the Child Care SlidingFee Fund. According to the results of the survey the Child Care Sliding Fee Program inRamsey County supports industries such as: service industry (44 percent), trade (17 percent),manufacturing (14 percent), finance (12 percent) and government (7 percent).[8] Serviceindustry includes jobs in the health services, social services, business services, educationalservices, personal services, legal services, lodging services, etc.Interestingly, the study also explores occupational trends and state jobs in the next five years.The result is that paraprofessional/professional and technical jobs are projected to be themost new jobs in the labor market. Therefore community leaders and policy makers at thestate level should consider economic development, job creation and determine what supportof child care subsidy is necessary in terms to support family self-sufficiency and to reducepoverty.IV. What are the factors that help families to get out of poverty ?The study of Greater Minneapolis Day Care Association (GMDCA) shows that investing inthe Child Care Sliding Fee Program helps ensure future returns. Child Care Sliding FeeProgram is a combination of federal, state and county funds. It basically serves for fourpopulation group: a) teenage parents, b) families who left AFDC and finished one year ofguaranteed child care assistance, c) working families who have not been on assistance, d)working poor families who are pursuing additional training or education. For example, oncefamilies receive funding through the Child Care Sliding Fee Program, they continue toimprove their economic standing as they move from part-time to full-time work or pursuetraining to qualify for higher-payingjobs. As a result, average gross annual income increasesfrom $15,400 for families on the waiting list to $19,500 for families receiving child careassistance. According to GMDCA, the average monthly cost to taxpayers for supporting afamily on AFDC is 854, on food stamps and medical assistance is $405 and on child caresliding fee is $259. [9] Affordable child care is one of the factors that enables families to findand retain employment and wean themselves off state assistance. We can see from the dataAlliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)72 1 -4246 8that sliding fee child care is one of the least expensive services that can be provided tofamilies that are trying to get out of poverty.Subsidized child care enables both members of a family to work and thereby increase incomeand provide better for their family. It would also allow them to seek out training and otheropportunities to develop their potential thereby moving them out of minimum wage jobs andinto better paying and stable environments. This would contribute not only to the economy,but also to the quality of life of society. Children raised in situations where there is tensionand violence resulting from poverty are also those who do not have access to quality childcare. This is detrimental to their well being and can result in greater societal loss in thefuture. Families that are able to improve their earning capacity will be able to afford qualitychild care and also provide greater security and opportunities to their children which wouldbe a contribution to society.V. What are the government funds invested in early childhood development ?Strong economic growth has resulted in budget surplus within Minnesota. Therefore, withthe prospect of surplus funds, federal, state and local governments are considering newinvestments in children, particularly during early childhood. During the fiscal year 1998-99the government in Minnesota budgeted $377,338,000 from the General Fund for Family andEarly Childhood Education. This is significantly less than the $925,558,000 budgeted forcriminal justice expenditures. Investment in child care has diverse and long lasting effectson the welfare of children, family and society. Subsidized child care has had a morebeneficial effect on the ability of people on AFDC to return to work and costs taxpayers theleast. Moreover, as we discussed before child care is tool that has crucial impact oneconomic development and helps to improve self-sufficiency of low-income families throughtheir access to workforce.Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246VI. ConclusionThe report outlined the issues related to the good quality and affordable child care, and themain factors that impact welfare of children in child care. This includes the effects ofthe quality of child care on the early development of children, the factors that contribute tochild care staff low turnover and the effect that affordable good quality child care has on theability of a families on low income jobs to retain jobs.The crux of the problems described in this report is affordable good quality child careespecially for low-income families whose choices are limited by their earning capacity.These problems necessitate increased state investments and higher involvement from othersectors. This includes programs that make subsidize child care widely available whichwould enable people to either got to work or procure skills necessary to obtain jobs, creationof jobs that pay a living wage that will contribute to the security and stability of families.This will enable families to pay for better child care services, which in turn will result inhigher wages for child care staff and less turnover. This would effect better quality of childcare and further successful development of the children.Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)72 1 -4246 10REFERENCES:[1] Children, Families and Government Preparing for the Twenty-first Century. Zigler,Edward, Kagan Sharon, Hall Nancy. Cambridge University Press. 1996 p.96.[2] ibid. p. 100[3] Minnesota Early Childhood Workforce Study, 1998. The Alliance of Early ChildhoodProfessionals.[4] Carnegie Corporation Study, 1996.[5] Children, Families and Government Preparing for the Twenty-fir st Century. Zigler,Edward, Kagan Sharon, Hall Nancy. Cambridge University Press.1996 p.101.[6] Children's Defence Fund Study, 1996.[7] ] Minnesota Early Childhood Workforce Study, 1998. The Alliance of Early ChildhoodProfessionals.[8] The Other Side of Child Care. Ramsey County Study, 1996[9] Greater Minneapolis Day Care Association Study, 1997Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, Tel.: (612)721-4246 11

Why We Should Invest Money in Child Care.

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