Literature Review Final

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May 28, 2024

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1 Literature Review Child Care Crisis in America Shasta Janae’ Cox Liberty University EDUC 518: Educational Research and Assessment Dr. Robert Ritz May 5, 2024

2 Child Care Crisis in America Abstract Studies have shown that in America, there are many families that live in child care

3 deserts. This means that parents have limited or no access to child care. Because of the lim- ited or no access to child care for many, the child care crisis in America is a serious public health issue. Research has also shown that the United States economy loses an estimated $ 122 billion a year due to child care challenges and businesses lose $1,640 a year for each working parent due to lost revenue and hiring costs because of insufficient child care, totaling $23 billion annually(Rittling, 2019). In recent studies, it was revealed that the current prices child care center provide deny many families, particularly low-income families, a real choice between formal options and informal ones and low wages paid to child care workers. Some researchers say boosting “quality” of programs, even at the expense of other programs in the center is essential. More data, particularly, more research on parent preferences, and how to better support parents and kids and workers would help. Key Words: Crisis, revenue, insufficient, annually, low-income, quality, essential, preferences, formal, informal Introduction

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4 The Child Care Crisis has a serious chokehold on our Country and is a escalating public health issue among parents, educators, and policymakers. Thousands of families all over the U.S. deal with not being able to find available, appropriate, and affordable early childhood program, especially infants and toddlers. Some families have no options for child care at all. The child care industry was deeply affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, which made child care options that were previously scarce, almost non- existent for some parents. In America’s Escalating Child Care Crisis and Its Impact On Early Childhood Educator, childhood education experts point out that the childcare shortage is an alarming reflection of a system in dire need of reform(Gould, 2023). It was reported in 2022 from Child Care Aware that 12.3 million children required child care services, but only 8.7 million slots were actually available in licensed child care centers. That is a huge gap of 3.6 million spots(Gould, 2023). What’s Behind the Child Care Crisis

5 The Child Care Crisis that has been plaquing the economy, can be broken down into three key, interrelated challenges: affordability, accessibility, and quality of care(Melillo, 2023). According to What’s Behind the U.S.’s Worsening Child Care Crisis? , the average national price of child care is $10,600 a year! These prices have an impact on lower income families. Especially families of color because they often have limited access to child care services. A report in Costly and Unavailable: America Lacks Sufficient Child Care Supply for Infants and Toddlers, states that just 1 in 6 families who are eligible for child care subsidies receive them and the subsidies that do exist, have flaws and only cover a fraction of the cost of providing care and limiting the provider’s ability to invest in their programs(Jessen-Howard, Malik, Falqout, 2020). Child care workers face many obstacles in this industry. Insufficient wages and work conditions being unstable is one of the main problems. In a peer-reviewed article, Child Care In Crisis , a report revealed that child care workers are 92% women and 40% women of color. It was also reported that women of color were paid on average less than $24,000 annually, about $11.50 an hour. Studies show that Hispanic and Black women are the breadwinners and most likely the ones who are the main sources of financial support in their families. If a loss of income a job stability can threaten families(McGrath, 2021). Providing quality child care to all children is essential to a child’s early development. In Providing Affordable, Accessible, and High- Quality Child Care, 60% of child care providers report having less than one month of operating

6 costs available, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recommends that all businesses have 3 to 6 months of cash on hand. Research as also shown, The Culture Of Health In Early Care And Education: Workers’ Wages, Health, And Job Characteristics, that 43 to 54% of workers that rely on public assistance programs like medicaid is 21% higher than elementary and middle school teachers that have to also use these services due to poverty-level wages. It was also revealed that 30 percent of child care workers can not afford required health insurance. More studies were founded on demographic characteristics on the health of child care workers that include: Overweight, obesity, and chronic diseases. How Do We Fix This? We fix the Child Care Crisis by understanding the Child Care Crisis. In a research article, Fixing the Child Care Crisis Starts With Understanding It, researchers admit that they do not have a good idea of what the supply and demand mismatch for child care actually is. What kind of care do parents actually want and need for their children and would they use center-

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7 based care if it was available(Cohen, 2023). A recent poll found that two-thirds of parents preferred”formal care”. Formal care is a home based child care business, pre-k, or Head Start. One-third of parents liked the idea of “Informal care”. Informal Care is care from relatives, parents, friends, neighbors, and nannies. Increasing investments in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is one way in defeating the child care crisis. This Federal program was put in place to reduce child care cost for low-income families. However, child care advocates believe that policymakers should make this available to all families, not just low-income households. Increasing immigration could possibly bring down the cost of child care for families in need by increasing the supply of workers and helping more moms work in the labor market(Cohen, 2023). In a peer-reviewed article, How Five States Are Stepping Up to Alleviate the Child Care Crisis, student researchers visited Michigan, Massachusetts, Vermont, Oregon, and New Mexico to speak with educators, providers, advocators, and other experts to learn how they are tackling this crisis in an effective way.

8 In Michigan, a Michigan model is used to share the cost of child care between state government, businesses, and parents and how it is spread across the state. In Oregon, child care is approached from different angles with a new statewide early childhood department. In Massachusetts, Federal relief dollars are replaced to avoid the child care cliff and by expanding pre-k and In Vermont, and New Mexico, universal early care and education systems are created, due to a recent legislative win(Bell, Dukes, 2024). In Washington State, where I currently reside, A huge Announcement in regards to early education was recently made in my school community. As previously mentioned, I teach for the Tacoma School district, Located in Tacoma Washington. It is one of the largest school districts in the state. We are trying to tackle this Crisis is many ways and this upcoming school year, the District will be implementing 34 Transiting to Kindergarten (TTK) classrooms. This program is for children who are at least four years old by August 31st and need extra preparation for kindergarten (TPS, 2024). Conclusion Child Care is important. The experiences that children endure in life play a pivotal role in the

9 development of the brain. High-quality child care helps children develop the skills that they will need to thrive in school and in their lives outside of school. Through different surveys, interviews, models, etc. we have learned that affordability, accessibility, and quality of care are the biggest issues that are impacting our families in obtaining child care. The findings in these studies are alarming. In order for the Child Care Crisis to be somewhat managed, it has to start at the top. We need policymakers to step up and do their part. Child Care workers deserve better pay and adequate training and parents deserve to be provided with better options when choosing appropriate care for their children and being able to afford that care. References Bell, L., & Liz Bell, K. D. (2024, March 31). How five states are stepping up to alleviate the child care crisis . EducationNC. https://www.ednc.org/how-five-states-alleviate-child-care-crisis-funding-cliff/ Cohen, R. M. (2023, April 17). Fixing the child care crisis starts with understanding it . Vox.

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10 https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/4/17/23667770/child-care-crisis-prek-family-immigratio n Director, S. Nadeau Associate, Nadeau, S., Director, A., Shepherd Director, M., Shepherd, M., Director, Estep, S., Jones, K. B., Coffey, M., Khattar, R., Williamson, M. W., Salas-Betsch, I., Mathema, S., Almeida, B., Amaning, A., Ives-Rublee, M., Lovejoy, A., Smith, C., Gaspard, P., & Ross, J. (2024, March 21). Providing affordable, accessible, and high-quality child care . Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/playbook-for-the-advancement-of-women-in-the -economy/providing-affordable-accessible-and-high-quality-child-care/ Early learning (preschool) . Tacoma Public Schools. (n.d.). https://www.tacomaschools.org/departments/early-learning-preschool Gould, R. (2023, October 3). America’s escalating childcare crisis and its impact on early childhood educators . Rasmussen University. https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/americas-escalating-childcare-crisis-an d-its-impact-on-early-childhood-educators/ Jessen-Howard, S., & Malik, R. (2022, May 20). Costly and unavailable: America lacks sufficient child care supply for infants and toddlers . Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/costly-unavailable-america-lacks-sufficient-child -care-supply-infants-toddlers/ McGrath, J. (2021, February 24). Child Care in Crisis . Third Way. Melillo, G. (2023, February 12). What’s behind the US’s worsening child care crisis? The Hill. https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/3852987-whats-behind-the-uss -worsening-child-care-crisis/ Otten, J. J., Bradford, V. A., Stover, B., Hill, H. D., Osborne, C., Getts, K., & Seixas, N. (2019, May). The culture of health in early care and education: Workers’ wages, health, and job characteristics . Health affairs (Project Hope). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8164392/

Literature Review Final

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