Here & Now

The Availability and Affordability of Child Care

Zac Schultz:

We turn now from health care to childcare. Monday was “A Day Without Childcare” in which activists asked childcare centers to close for a day to bring attention to the need for increased wages and more affordable options for parents. We are joined by Tracy Jensen, program director at Sunny Day Childcare and Preschool in Waupaca. Thank you for your time.

Tracy Jensen:

Thanks for having me on today.

Zac Schultz:

The apparent irony of your participation in “A Day Without Childcare” is you felt you couldn’t afford to close for the day, both for you and your parents. Is that accurate?

Tracy Jensen:

That is correct. With having COVID these last couple of years, asking our parents to not be able to be open for childcare we thought was a little bit much. Having to quarantine our classrooms, we have been asking parents to come pick up their children. We felt like they didn’t more days to take off from work. As a community, we decided that we were going to keep our doors open.

Zac Schultz:

So, what did you ask your families to do in lieu of actually taking the day off? How did they try and participate in this day?

Tracy Jensen:

So, we did a hash tag “A Day Without Childcare.” Parents were able to write comments in what they would do if there was no childcare at all. We also had parents come in and have discussions with our staff about the importance of childcare and quality care. Overall, like I said, we had them really — we brought an awareness to childcare and what is going on right now.

Zac Schultz:

It seems like the COVID-19 pandemic brought a new appreciation for childcare providers, but did it bring in enough new dollars to actually support everyone?

Tracy Jensen:

That is a very good question. We are very thankful. We did get federal funding. And we are investing it the best we can to keep ourselves afloat. But we are definitely concerned about sustainability and retention and being able to keep our employees, as well as, gain new employees.

Zac Schultz:

Now, in theory, the laws of supply and demand should dictate the cost and availability of childcare. And perhaps, it does for wealthy families but how does that get disrupted when a childcare center is serving a working-class population?

Tracy Jensen:

As far as like equality? Is that what you’re asking?

Zac Schultz:

Yeah, in terms of your ability to actually charge what you would think would be enough to provide for fair wages. Does that not work in a place like Waupaca the same way it might in a wealthier community or a more populous area?

Tracy Jensen:

It does not work that way for us.

Zac Schultz:

So, what are you able to do? How do you determine what rates you can set? How much your families can afford to pay?

Tracy Jensen:

So, we have a lot of blue-collar workers that have their children here at Sunny Day. So, that kind of determines how the cost is.

Zac Schultz:

And what role do you serve in that regard? I mean, obviously, it’s a service for them to bring their children there but if you weren’t there, would there be other providers that would pop up? You are a pretty large facility, right?

Tracy Jensen:

We are a large facility but we are also in a desert. We have quite a few families on a waiting list here. I think right now we are licensed for 220 children. And I think we have over 100 children, 100 families on a waiting list right now.

Zac Schultz:

Okay.

Tracy Jensen:

So, there definitely is the need for it.

Zac Schultz:

What role does the government have to play in this? Do they need to get out of the way or should the government be getting more involved?

Tracy Jensen:

Sorry, you glitched out. So are you asking should the government be more involved?

Zac Schultz:

Yes, would you like the government to be more involved to help with this or should they get out of the way? Are there too many regulations happening?

Tracy Jensen:

So, we do have — we have Wisconsin Shares, which helps supplement for some of the parents having their children here. But we really need help for everyone overall, for cost of childcare.

Zac Schultz:

Tracy Jensen at Sunny Day Childcare and Preschool, thanks for your time today.

Tracy Jensen:

Yeah, thanks for having us.