The lack of sufficient public investment for child care in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced families, educators, and programs into a
series of impossible choices. To help policymakers and the public understand the challenges the field is facing, NAEYC has surveyed tens of thousands of programs across states and settings in March, April, May, and June, and has created the reports outlined below. Together, they paint a clear picture: If substantial, targeted, emergency support doesn’t come—and soon—in order to save child care, there will be little left of child care to save.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STATE-BY-STATE DATA FROM NAEYC’S NATIONAL SURVEY.

In a recent op-ed published in The Hill, Mark K. Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), and Cheryl Oldham, vice president of Education Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the bipartisan consensus on the urgent need to support child care. According to a survey conducted by SCAN, 87% of American voters–82% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats–favor public assistance in support of the struggling child care industry.

The op-ed also draws attention to the dire outlook confronting the child care industry. Citing studies conducted by child care advocates, the authors warned that more than 4.5 million child care slots could be permanently lost at the current rate of closure, and called for the federal government to act quickly to allocate additional funds to stabilize the child care industry. “It’s past time to start talking about solutions,” wrote Shriver and Oldham.

Parent. Teacher. Employee. Chef. Counselor. Coach. Nurse. Playmate. Not necessarily in that order. Ask a working parent how well they’re wearing all of these hats right now. Ask a working parent if they think child care is a second- or third-tier issue.

The COVID-19 public health crisis has been a wake-up call to the role of the child care industry in our lives. Child care is essential to America’s economic recovery. Thirteen million working parents rely on this industry to care for their children while they do their jobs. In many cases, working parents will not be able to return to work if their child care programs are unable to reopen.

It’s past time to start talking about solutions. The supply of child care was declining before this pandemic, so without immediate, targeted support for providers, we risk losing them permanently. While critical support through the CARES Act was provided to small businesses early on in this crisis, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, only one-quarter of the child care market received a Paycheck Protection Loan. Child care cannot be reserved for second or third phases of re-opening. Without this industry’s survival and ability to care for and educate our young children, every other industry will struggle to return to work and our economic recovery will suffer.

In February, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation studied the economic impact on states and employers when the child care system breaks down. What this study found was staggering – billions of dollars lost annually during a time when unemployment was low and economies were strong. Pennsylvania alone loses $3.47 billion each year from breakdowns in child care. Persistent challenges with child care access for working parents – even in a booming economy – resulted in stalled growth, high turnover, and employees leaving the workforce.

The pandemic has decimated an already fragile industry comprised of small and very small businesses – many run by women and women of color – which are on the brink of collapse. According to this coalition of advocates, more than half of child care facilities have closed and may not reopen without relief. Additionally, more than 4.5 million child care slots will be permanently lost with these widespread closures. These are the small business owners—women, women of color, mothers, former teachers—who our communities need to stay in business.

A sharp decline in child care capacity would be an albatross to reopening the economy. Every day, businesses and chambers of commerce emphasize that accessible child care is a top-tier issue for them to start their return to work plans, and they are searching for answers and trying to find partners in their communities.

The Center for Disease Control’s public Framework for Reopening America identified the need for child care centers to allow the workforce to return to work. Businesses understand how access to child care impacts their employees’ ability to return to work, but we need targeted relief for providers so that they are still in business when families return.

New opinion polling suggests that American voters are keenly aware of the essential role child care plays for both families and business. In a new national survey from Save the Children Action Network and Child Care Aware of America, American voters overwhelmingly (87 percent) support providing support through the crisis so that current child care providers are able to make payroll and pay other expenses such as rent and utilities.

In a rare moment of unity, this support crosses partisan lines with 82 percent of Republicans and 94 percent of Democrats in favor. This bipartisan support is all the more remarkable when you consider that only 27 percent of voters reported that they would be personally impacted in some way if child care providers were unable to reopen. Voters recognize that it is in everyone’s interest for this industry to survive this crisis.

Yes, the child care industry needs our support. Child care is a two-generation workforce issue, essential to support the workforce of today and vital to develop our workforce of tomorrow. We need targeted and timely assistance to child care programs so that every other industry can return to work.

Mark K. Shriver is president of the Save the Children Action Network. Cheryl Oldham is senior vice president of the Center for Education and Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and vice president of Education Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A blog post authored by Bank Street College of Education recommends immediate steps and long-term solutions that states can adopt to make early care and education systems more equitable. Citing the impact of developmentally meaningful early childhood education and the broad public support for public assistance to child care providers, the blog calls for reforms that place racial justice and equity at the center.

The article specifically draws attention to the undervalued and underappreciated nature of the work provided by professional early childhood educators, who are primarily women of color. Prior to the pandemic, 4 in 5 early childhood educators earned less than $15 an hour, 1 in 7 received employer-sponsored healthcare, while black female educators made 84 cents to every dollar earned by their white counterparts.

Guidelines provided by Bank Street College of Education aim at supporting both professional and home-based early childhood educators and ushering in systemic change towards a more equitable early care and education system. The organization suggests that states focus on education quality beyond physical safety, pay and equip providers as educators, build diverse system- and policy-level leadership, and broaden engagement with caregivers outside of formal systems of care and education.

“As a country, we need to finally recognize and fund early care and education as the public good that it is,” the report reads. “We need to build a foundation that delivers on the promise of education as an expression of justice and a means towards a more equitable society.”

The blog post is published in conjunction with Bank Street’s white paper, Investing in the Birth-to-Three Workforce: A New Vision to Strengthen the Foundation for All Learning, and an online discussion on turning these guidelines into action.

In a letter sent to Senate Leadership last week, 22 attorneys general urged lawmakers to increase child care funding in the next stimulus package. The signers of the letter represent more than 150 million residents, including many parents and child care workers who have contacted the signers’ offices to plead for support.

The attorneys general supplemented these personal constituent stories with data and research, including only 16 percent of child care providers could survive lengthy closure without public assistance, and just 11 percent could survive a month-long closure.

The letter recognizes the positive impact of funding provided by the CARES Act, but pointed out that additional financial support is required to meet the needs of child care providers who are facing increased costs to comply with public health requirements and other uncertainties. Providers’ decreased revenues make it hard for them to rise up to the increased necessity of child care as parents prepare to return to work.

“We need a solution that meets the moment and treats childcare as the essential infrastructure it is,” the letter reads. “To be serious about an economic recovery is to address our country’s childcare funding crisis.”

A new analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) found that less than than 6% of the overall child care market, comprised of 670,000 businesses that employ 1.5 million workers, received a PPP loan.

The child care industry received similar PPP amounts as sectors such as public administration, management, and utilities companies. However, the size of the child care industry is disproportionately large compared to these sectors, suggesting inequitable access to PPP funds for child care programs. Meanwhile, PPP reportedly still has roughly $130 billion in its coffers, which suggests that inadequate funding has little to do with child care providers’ inability to access loans.

While data on the number of child care programs that applied for the PPP is unavailable, it’s clear that only a small fraction of the potential applicants received funding— which is concerning for an industry that is so vital to our economic recovery. The vast majority of loans to child care providers were under $150,000, with only 11% of loans above this threshold.

Overall, the program helped to retain 31% of the child care workforce. Across the U.S., the SBA estimates that between 72% to 96% of small business payroll was covered by the loan program.

Click here learn more and view a state-by-state breakdown of PPP funding that went to the child care industry.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has released the findings of a new survey of over 5,000 child care providers across the country. The COVID-19 crisis has all but decimated the nation’s child care industry. And as this survey reveals, most providers say they won’t be able to stay in business without financial relief.

From NAEYC’s analysis:

Our nation’s children, families, early childhood educators, and businesses long have been denied the level of public investment necessary to ensure a thriving, high-quality child care system. Now, the lack of sufficient public investment in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced families, educators, and child care programs into a series of impossible choices between health, safety, quality, and financial solvency.

In telling their stories, child care providers have made it clear that they are doing everything they can to hold their programs together: scrimping, spending down savings, and sacrificing their own income. But the financial cliff is looming, and if help doesn’t come—and soon—in order to save child care, there will be little left of child care to save. The US economy will suffer the consequences as families returning to work can’t find quality, reliable care for their children.

Key findings from the survey results:

• Approximately two out of five respondents—and half of those who are minority-owned businesses—are certain that they will close permanently without additional public assistance.
• Nationally, 18% of child care centers and 9% of family child care homes remain closed.
• Of those who are open, 86% of respondents are serving fewer children now than they were prior to the pandemic. On average, enrollment is down by 67%.
• At the same time, upwards of 70% of child care centers are incurring substantial, additional costs for staff (72%), cleaning supplies (92%), and personal protective equipment (81%).
• One in four early childhood educators reported that they have applied for or received unemployment benefits, while a full 73% of programs indicated that they have or will engage in layoffs, furloughs, and/or pay cuts. For minority-owned businesses, the situation is worse; only 12% have not resorted to these measures in order to survive.

Click here to read the full report from NAEYC.