INDIANAPOLIS — When Mary De La Rosa closed her toddler and preschool program in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, she fully expected to serve the 14 children again some day. In the end, though, Creative Explorers closed for good.
It left the families to search for other care options — and the three teachers to file for unemployment benefits.
“We kept trying to find a way," said De La Rosa, who is of Mexican and Egyptian descent. "But eventually we realized there wasn’t one."
The story of De La Rosa’s program in the Westchester
Policy experts say the U.S. spends a small fraction of federal funds on child care compared to other industrialized nations, an underfunding exacerbated by COVID-19. Soon nearly half of the child care
“Prior to the pandemic, the child care system was fractured.” said Lynette Fraga, CEO of Child Care Aware of America. “Now, it's shattered.”
Even before the coronavirus, many parents already faced an impossible choice — caring for their children or earning a living. But COVID-19's impact on the system has worsened that, Fraga says, and its effects risk creating “child care deserts,” leaving parents unable to return to work, reducing incomes and taking away early education opportunities crucial for a child's development.
The U.S. child care industry has long relied on Black and Latina women, with women of
“The pandemic has unveiled how little access to support many of these women have,” Fraga said. “It’s exacerbated and spotlighted the inequities we’ve always known existed here.”
Economic disparities in the child care industry fell along racial lines long before COVID-19, said Lea Austin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment.
Black early educators earn an average of $0.78 less per hour than white early educators, according to the
“They’re earning lower wages for doing the exact same work,” Austin said.
Rooted in slavery, professional child care has historically been seen as the domain of women of
“The roots of our child care system goes all the way back to slavery when women who were enslaved and forced to care for others’ children did so with no pay,” she said. “Later, those domestic jobs were among the only available for Black women and other women of
This undervaluing was perpetuated by policies like the 1938 Fair Labor Standard Act, which guaranteed minimum wages and standardized hours but excluded domestic workers. Even today, Bartley says child care providers of
Angelique Marshall, director of Ms. P’s Daycare, feels lucky her
Marshall, who is Black, serves half the number of children she used to. Her emergency funds bought cleaning and personal protective equipment, and operating costs have more than doubled.
“We’re not even making money,” she said. “It’s just about survival.”
Marshall said she’s surviving largely on loans and grants. But the process is exhausting, requiring her to file paperwork, log spending, save receipts and write reports. She said providers of
“No one is telling us how to do this,” she said. “We’re figuring it out on our own. We have to fend for ourselves, and nobody seems to care.”
Maria Potts, director of Kids World in Falls Church, Virginia, is also relying on grants and PPP loans. With only seven of the original 14 children she served still in her program, Potts laid off three assistants and works 70-hour weeks.
She goes through three times as much paper towels, sanitizers and bleach. Much of her grant money goes to PPE and cleaning supplies.
“If it wasn’t for the Paycheck Protection Plan, I don’t think we would have survived,” said Potts, who is Latina.
Many of her colleagues in the Hispanic Association for Child Care in Northern Virginia have had to close. Potts has helped many of those remaining apply for grants. She says language barriers prevent many Spanish-speaking child care business owners from accessing grants and support.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills — the Child Care is Essential Act and the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act — in July, aiming to stabilize the child care industry during the pandemic and create a $50 billion fund for the child care sector.
Christine Johnson-Staub, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Law and Social Policy, considers moving this legislation forward only the first step.
Johnson-Staub, who has worked in child care policy for three decades, said workers need hazard pay and funds for cleaning supplies and PPE. She said federal dollars should be tracked to ensure they are allocated equitably, and policies should support fair compensation and job quality for child care providers of
Austin recommends shifting the burden of child care costs away from individual families and providers. Because parents pay most child care costs,
“We don’t tell students that they can’t go to third grade unless they can pay for it,” she said. “And we don’t tell third-grade teachers that they’ll get paid based on what their students can afford. So why is that OK for child care workers?”
Policy changes didn’t come soon enough to save De La Rosa’s
Today, De La Rosa's house feels empty and quiet. She misses the children's laughter. Her husband's job has helped keep their family afloat, but losing the business has forced them to rethink their budget. It has also had other effects — some more intangible, but just as real.
“It was like mourning someone,” De La Rosa said. “This school was such a huge part of who I am, and then all of a sudden it was gone.”
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Fernando is a member of AP's Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com//christinetfern.
Christine Fernando, The Associated Press