Local News

Vt. forum: Child care critical for parents, economy

By Stephen Mills
stephen.mills @timesargus.com
BARRE — Finding pathways to build a model for affordable child care in Vermont was the theme of a forum on Thursday.

The recurring refrain among participants was that child care is difficult to access because of cost, location and government regulation. It also hurts businesses and the economy during a time of low unemployment when parents are kept out of the workforce. Earning a livable wage also was an issue for parents and providers.

“Child Care: An Economic and Employment Issue” was the forum that followed a survey across New England by the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston, which partnered with Let’s Grow Kids, Housing Vermont and the Vermont Community Loan Fund to measure the need for child care in Vermont.

Held at Downstreet Housing and Community Development, the forum included a review of that survey and a discussion about next steps to fix the problem.

The survey was answered by 664 respondents, of which 60 worked or lived in Vermont.

More than 90% of respondents agreed that quality early child care was important and needed to be available at times and locations that met the needs of working parents.

More than 70% of respondents agreed that the cost of child care should not exceed 7% of a family’s income, while there also was discussion of some families who spend as much as 40% of their income on child care.

The issue of most concern for parents was the lack of child care that was both affordable and high quality.

Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, welcomed stakeholders to the forum and noted the issue’s economic impact, estimated to amount to $58 billion in lost productivity in 2018.

Richards said that quality, affordable child care was important for early intellectual, social and emotional development to help children avoid problems such as addiction and chronic diseases later in life.

“We believe it’s the single most important thing we can do for a thriving Vermont,” Richards said.

Richards said that seven out of 10 parents with children under the age of six are in the workforce.

“So, 70% of kids at this age are no longer at home,” Richards said. “So, where are they?

“Only 50% have access to regulated child care in Vermont; only a third of it is considered high quality and none of it is affordable,” she added.

Richards said it was hoped to develop a successful model for child care that could be adopted in other parts of the country.

Sarah Savage and Marija Bingulac, both senior policy analysts for the Federal Reserve in Boston, said the survey was important to measure child care as an economic and employment issue.

“In that vein, we all know that child care is critical to work,” Savage said. “Child care in the New England region has absolutely bubbled up as something for us to focus on … because costs are so high.”

As a result, more than one third of women in New England are not in the labor force in New England, Savage said.

There were several references to the “tension” between parents not being able to afford child care and child care providers not being able to pay certified employees enough to attract and retain them, leading to an overall shortage of quality care available. Stricter government regulation had also limited the number of child care centers available.

Bingulac said most of the people who completed the survey were parents who worked full-time, followed by providers, nonprofits, small businesses and policymakers.

Sue Minter, executive director of Capstone Community Action, noted that a low unemployment rate meant that it was hard to attract caregivers to its Head Start program because it is a low-wage job. Capstone also is being asked to reduce the costs of the program, which could mean a cut in 12-hour day of child care offered and three meals daily, she added.

Hardwick resident Abbie Alden is a single parent who explained she lived in affordable housing and had Medicaid coverage but still struggled to afford child care.

Jenn Kimmich, co-founder of The Alchemist in Waterbury, spoke about the importance of supporting parents in her business with good wages to be able to afford child care and parental leave.

Trisha Scharf, an early educator and the owner/director of Children Unlimited, a child care facility and pre-school with 14 staff for nearly 50 families in Williston, said she struggled with “ratio-regulation” of staff-per-child requirements, wage competition and providing staff with paid leave.

Scharf said her husband noted that supporting child care was critical to economic growth and stability for all.

“He says this … ‘If you have good, available child care and both parents can go to work, you have three taxpayers: you have two parents and you have the child care provider.’ If you don’t have good, available, high-quality child care, you’ve got one taxpayer, because you don’t have a child care worker and you don’t have the second parent (working). So, it’s a huge economic issue.”

The survey by the Federal Reserve in Boston is expected to be published next year.

Disclosure: Times Argus Editor Steven Pappas is the chairman of the board of directors of Capstone Community Action in Barre.

Avatar photo

As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.