With impending childcare cliff, it is clear: no one is coming to save us moms
Just as working moms were starting to rebound from the pandemic, we are at risk of falling off the “childcare cliff” and losing all the progress we’ve made to regain our footing in the workforce. Read more about how this could impact you and your family, and how you can prepare for it.
What is the childcare cliff?
On Sept. 30th, 2023, emergency pandemic-era childcare funding expired, leaving 3.2 million children at risk of losing childcare. With Congress failing to renew the funding, an estimated 70,000 childcare programs that benefited from the $24 billion in funding are in danger of closing. This is predicted to have a catastrophic impact on children and families. Here’s why…
How will this childcare cliff impact families?
This “child care cliff” could have dire consequences for American families, since much of the country is considered a childcare desert, meaning there are 3 children for every one open child care slot.
Without access to affordable childcare, this drop-off in funding could cause more parents, especially mothers, to leave the workforce. This at a time when causing a giant ripple effect on the economy.
Since the average price for daycare and preschool across the country increased 6% in July compared to a year ago, the costs of childcare are increasing at nearly double the rate of inflation, leaving many of us baffled as to why Congress did not prioritize the funding.
This federal funding was helping to offset the rising operating costs for childcare centers, which will now have no choice but to either raise their rates for families, lose staff or shut their doors.
As a result, more than 3 million children risk losing their childcare according to the Century Foundation, or families no longer being able to afford childcare, leaving them scrambling to either:
Find an alternative childcare solution, often without much notice
Face the tough decision of one parent, (most often, the mother) having to leave the workforce to care for their kids.
“Just like clean water, safe food, and good public schools, high quality, affordable, and accessible child care is a national priority that benefits everyone.”
—The Century Foundation
How will childcare centers be impacted?
The child care workforce, which has been one of the slowest sectors to recover from the pandemic, will likely lose 232,000 jobs. In six states—Arkansas, Montana, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.—the number of licensed programs could be cut by half or more. In another fourteen states, the supply of licensed programs could be reduced by one-third.
Childcare centers will either have to raise their rates or be forced to close their doors. Staff was already underpaid and now, as centers will have to cover increased costs to run the business, they face laying off staff.
In 2019, the median child care worker earned $11.65 per hour. Today their pay averages $14.22, but without public subsidy, programs may have to raise rates for families to continue paying workers those higher wages. The survey released last October found that 43 percent of child care centers and 37 percent of home-based providers expected that they’d have to raise rates when federal relief dollars dry up.
With daycare workers often facing long hours and tough working conditions, this impending “cliff” could make things even tougher to retain staff.
“Working moms are both the first ones pushed off the ledge, and the social safety net expected to catch everyone else, often at our own peril.”
—Reshma Saujani, CEO of Moms First
What impacts will the Childcare Cliff have on mothers, and the economy?
If parents lose their child care, they will have to cut their work hours or leave their jobs altogether.
“As more childcare centers close and those that remain open only increase already-long waitlists for limited spots, some families will have to decide whether one parent will need to stay home to care for their children,” said Cathy Creighton, the director of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab, who has studied child care costs.
“Often, it falls on the mother to leave her job,” Creighton said, “putting women at a disadvantage in career advancement, widening gender pay disparities, and affecting their personal income and future benefits.”
The childcare shortage already existed pre-pandemic. And just as working moms were starting to get a solid footing and rebound, we are now at risk of being the first ones pushed off the edge.
Womens’ return to the workforce brought with it the lowest unemployment rate in decades, but women leaving the workforce or reducing hours could cost families $9 billion each year in lost earnings, according to the Century Foundation.
According to NBC News, “The potential loss of child care providers would have a profound impact on working parents, with women shouldering the worst of it, but labor and economic experts warn the ripple effect will be far-reaching in ways that those who don't have young children should be just as concerned about.”
Mothers leaving the workforce would have a significant impact on the economy, including labor shortages, higher costs for consumers, and less overall spending.
"Child care has been put on the back of parents, but it's a broken market," Creighton said. "It's not a market that can bear the cost. You can't say only if you're wealthy can you send your children to day care. It's not a good model for a democratic society."
And as the average retirement age in the U.S. only increases, millennial parents can no longer count on their parents to fill a child care role as in previous generations.
"You used to be able to have grandma help today and a neighbor tomorrow," Kashen said. "Now, your village has shrunk."
That has some families scrambling to find their Village, or their childcare back-up plan.
What alternative childcare solutions do families have?
For families that suddenly find themselves without childcare, thankfully there are a few alternative childcare solutions that have emerged.
June Care, is one alternative childcare solution that was born from the pandemic. June Care connects families that need childcare with stay-at-home moms who can care for their kids.
By tapping into the immense, and often underutilized, supply of care work provided by stay-at-home parents across the country, June Care is offering families everywhere access to affordable childcare.
“The magic of June Care is that we unlock the care work supply that’s happening in so many homes across the country and make it accessible for parents who are looking for child care.”
On the flip side, for mothers who find themselves having to leave the workforce, June Care offers a way for stay-at-home moms to earn income by helping another local family.
“Opportunities to earn an income while you’re actually caring for your kids are so few and far between,” said June Care Founder Gretchen Salyer.
June Care is hoping to support more families by creating a platform to connect local moms to support one another. It is free to sign up and connect with local moms in your neighborhood at junecare.co.
