Federal funding allocated during the pandemic for childcare providers is soon coming to an end. CCF is working to facilitate the efforts of our Corporate Community Champion Roundtable participants who are focusing on finding solutions to the childcare dilemma. This big challenge impacts families and employers in Cobb County and across the nation.
Expect more updates on this topic in the coming months. Want to know more about the status of childcare and how it impacts our workforce? The excerpt below is from an article in the NY Times. Want to know more about our Corporate Champions program? Visit: https://cobbfoundation.org/…/corporate-community-champion/
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đź—ž Excerpt From the NY Times Dated 06/21/23:
“Child Care Disruptions Expected as Record Funding Nears an End
For two years, the United States has been effectively running an experiment in federally funding childcare providers. The $24 billion disbursed in pandemic relief has been the largest investment in child care in U.S. history. Childcare providers have used the money to raise teachers’ pay, buy supplies and pay mortgages.
In September, those funds expire, one of the last of the pandemic-era safety net benefits to end. It is a looming crisis for the industry, and could lead to tuition hikes, layoffs and closures. In all, childcare could be disrupted for three million children, close to a third of those in child care, according to a report released Wednesday by the Century Foundation.
More than a quarter said they would have to cut wages — from a median hourly wage of about $12. Nearly a third of providers, including 44 percent at those owned by minorities, said they might consider leaving their job or, in the case of home-based child care, closing altogether.
“Federal funding made a huge difference,” said Julie Kashen, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and an author of the new report. “There are going to be huge and dire consequences for child care employees, for families, for employers………………”
