Here & Now

Paula Drew on Child Care Bridge Payments Ending in Wisconsin

Frederica Freyberg:
If you have children in child care programs, expect tuition to go up and availability to go down. That’s because temporary COVID era funding to help providers keep costs down and retain staff is set to expire at the end of June. The Child Care Bridge Payments of $110 million took up after more robust federal stabilization funding ended. Results from a new report and survey from the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association show that three quarters of providers across the state said they’ll need to raise tuition, and a quarter of providers said they’re likely to close. We’re joined now by Paula Drew, director of early childhood education policy and research for the association, and thanks very much for being here.

Paula Drew:
Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So with costs up elsewhere for food and fuel, how are working families who depend on childcare likely to respond to these tuition hikes?

Paula Drew:
I think families around the state right now are sitting around tables like this, asking themselves, does it make sense for one of us to keep working? If it makes sense, should we work part time instead of sending our child to a licensed child care program down the street? Perhaps we should entertain a grandparent, a neighbor, because the cost of care is just becoming unaffordable to the point where those who have the means to access it will, and those that don’t simply will be sort of priced out of the market.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because what kind of tuition increases could we be talking about in general?

Paula Drew:
So 75% of child care providers answered this question, and they said we will have to raise our tuition rates at least $25 per week. And so that’s, you know, between $2000 and $3000 per year.

Frederica Freyberg:
It’s already pretty expensive.

Paula Drew:
It’s already, I think, at the point where some families can no longer afford it.

Frederica Freyberg:
So how meaningful was the original Child Care Counts program that used federal emergency COVID funds to stabilize the industry?

Paula Drew:
The original Child Care Counts program was very meaningful, and child care providers have been on record over and over and over, stating, this is the first time I’ve ever been able to start a retirement account for our early educators. We are actually accessing health insurance for the very first time. Our early educators are earning a wage in which they only have to work one job. It also kept tuition rates affordable for parents.

Frederica Freyberg:
How much have Wisconsin providers gotten from both programs?

Paula Drew:
Hundreds of millions of dollars.

Frederica Freyberg:
And so going from hundreds of millions of dollars over the past six years to nothing, it’s easy to see why your survey results show that they will have to make some of these very difficult choices.

Paula Drew:
That’s right. For years on end, childcare providers have been depending on this funding to meet the gap between what parents can pay and what it actually costs to provide high quality childcare. And without those funds, most people within the field are asking these same, very hard questions that parents are. Should we close? Should we let go of some staff? Should we lessen the hours of operations that we have? Stop providing food, stop providing busing, you know, cutting costs, right? Both parents and providers are trying to figure out how they can make the math work.

Frederica Freyberg:
So access to childcare is — my understanding is that it’s already difficult, but how stunning is it that a quarter of providers might have to close their operations?

Paula Drew:
It’s very dramatic. And I think when we dig into the numbers and we think about 25% of providers now, 25% of group providers, that’s a really significant amount of child care seats available in the state, right? Family child care providers can serve up to eight children at a time, but group programs can serve hundreds of children. So we’re thinking about, you know, when you just think 25%, it’s not just like across the board in terms of how many seats we have. And I think that’s going to be really stark. And I also would estimate that that number is likely going to be larger than it was when the research was done.

Frederica Freyberg:
Is there any prospect that the state would replicate this funding?

Paula Drew:
I would love to see this program be codified into law. I think we have seen examples from all over the country – states, red, blue, purple states – making significant investments in the childcare sector and seeing really big returns on that investment. Anything’s possible when you prioritize it. And yes, we would love to see this program continue. It had all the components that I think are needed to hold together this market.

Frederica Freyberg:
Is — for some policymakers, does that kind of funding smack of an entitlement?

Paula Drew:
It can and I think it’s because the childcare sector itself is made up of for profit, nonprofit, family child care providers operating out of their homes, you know, large group programs. It’s hard to sort of wrap your mind around it versus like a K-12 system. You need a teaching license. You need a certain amount of education to meet the teaching license. That doesn’t mean that that’s not also required in early care and education, but it’s not what you think about because of the fabric of these providers in the state, you know, look different. But I would argue, you know, a wage and career ladder for early care and education based on experience and their own education is the same that is in K-12 schools, right, and which is publicly funded. We see that as a public good. What’s happening over here is the same exact thing, but it’s entirely funded mostly by parent fees.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Well, Paula Drew, thanks very much.

Paula Drew:
Thank you for having me.