They often make less than $12 an hour. They toil through long shifts that start before dawn, doing some of the nation’s most meaningful work on behalf of one of its most vulnerable populations. They tend to be women, and, often, they are immigrants.
I’m not talking about CNAs, but rather childcare workers, whose cause is essential to a full economic recovery. But childcare positions are down by more than 260,000 nationwide since the pandemic’s start, and several states are citing that contraction as a hindrance to other industries poised to grow.
Workers, whose average salary is $24,230, are leaving as starting pay elsewhere soars beyond $15 an hour.
In mid-September, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a report calling America’s childcare system “unworkable,” positioning both parents and providers to be beneficiaries of the proposed $3.5 trillion Build Back Better federal budget reconciliation.
At press time, aging services providers still hoped to get their share of financial and operational support through that same spending package, and observers were watching the negotiation process carefully as Republicans (and some Democrats) insisted the price tag must come down.
But, as LeadingAge’s Ruth Katz noted eloquently in a call with members recently, pitting the long-term care industry’s needs against those of the childcare industry would be short-sighted.
“It’s easy to look at this and see childcare as competing (with) the care we provide for older adults. Every penny more they get is one less for us. But the truth is, our staff can’t come to work without childcare that they can afford and they can count on,” Katz said. “We are all connected. We are all dependent on one another.”
Finding quality childcare isn’t a new issue for long-term care workers, or any American parent. But pronounced shortages and rising costs stuck a pin in it this fall. Some skilled nursing operators have helped employees by adding onsite childcare, providing vouchers or getting creative with scheduling/split shifts to allow working parents to be there for school drop-off or pick-up.
The questions remain: What can be done to make a difference for retention or hiring purposes? Can this common thread tie together two industries and make them both stronger?
“We are all dependent on one another.”
From the November 2021 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
