70K daycares in danger of closing, jobs for women at risk

Over 70,000 daycare providers across the US are in danger of closing when $24 billion in government aid dries up at the end of September, leaving some 3.2 million children without care and putting thousands of American women out of work, according to The Century Foundation.

TCF, a think tank centered around public policies and social issues, found that on Sept. 30, when pandemic-era government aid for child care providers comes to a halt, tens of thousands of children per state will lose access to child care.

Among the states suffering the most losses: Texas, where nearly 306,000 kids are set to lose their spot at daycare when nearly 4,000 facilities close, and New York, where 252,000 tots won’t have access to care when nearly 6,000 daycares shudder, TCF found.

Losses in New York alone could attribute to parents in the Empire State losing out on $846 million in earnings, a $1 billion loss in employer productivity and $51.9 million less in state income tax.

In six states — Arkansas, Montana, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C. — the number of licensed daycare centers is at risk of halving come October.

And in another 14 states, the supply of childcare centers could be slashed by one-third, according to the nonprofit organization.

The closures also mean the strides US women have made in the labor force in recent months could stall or come to a halt altogether, as about 232,000 daycare workers — including more than 19,000 in New York — are expected to lose their jobs in the coming weeks, TCF reported.

Last month, women aged 25 to 54 in the workforce reached an all-time high, according to fresh data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with more women in this age range on payroll than ever before.

The record figures could be attributed to the reopening of daycare centers since COVID.

To stay afloat, these child-care facilities reportedly collected $24 billion in funding handed out as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to give wage increases or bonuses that prevented staffers from quitting, and to offset rising operation costs.

However, women’s stride in the workforce data could be in jeopardy when the ARP cuts off that financial support.

“As child care programs are forced to raise prices to retain staff, parents will either have to pay even more for child care, cut back hours at work or be forced to leave their jobs entirely,” said Julie Kashen, TCF’s director for women’s economic justice.

“We know the responsibilities will mostly fall on women, and will not only hurt their lifetime earnings and retirement security but also their families’ bottom lines.”

The change will result in American parents losing $9 billion in earnings per year, TCF found.

The loss in tax and revenue will cost states an additional $10.6 billion in economic activity annually, the organization added.

“Even states that are proactively working to continue to support child care providers will not be able to fully make up the difference without federal funding,” TCF’s report said.

TCF supported its findings with a nationwide public opinion poll conducted in June, which showed that 64% of the 2,200-plus surveyed parents in the US are concerned about the upcoming expiration of pandemic-era funding for childcare programs.

Of those adults, 31%, or nearly one-third, are very concerned about the looming struggles.

Meanwhile, 56% of surveyed parents said they find it challenging to find affordable, high-quality childcare or after-school care, while 48% of parents recalled having to be late or fully absent from work sometime within the last five years due to lack of childcare.

“By not addressing the child care cliff, House Leadership is telling parents they’re on their own. It’s like they’re saying the quiet part out loud: their so-called ‘pro-parent agenda’ is nothing but political posturing,” Kashen said.