In an effort to help find solutions to its child care crisis, San Diego County leaders presented a blueprint on ways to address the issues on Tuesday. The plan aims to help parents looking for affordable care, as well as give providers a livable wage.
County Supervisor Nora Vargas said the blueprint has three goals.
“Child care workforce support and training and competitive wages, which is extremely important for our communities,” she said. “Child care facility expansion and renovation, and increased access to child care for all families.”
The average annual cost of infant care in California is almost $17,000, which is $9,000 more than tuition for an in-state public college, Vargas said.
But at the same time, child care providers are faced with staffing shortages.
“Child care workforce are also struggling to earn a livable wage and that’s not acceptable,” Vargas said. “Research shows that in San Diego County, the median hourly wage for child care providers is $15.11.”
At child care centers, the ratio of staff to children has to be small, so that kids get the care they need. But that means child care businesses have to hire a lot of staff, which costs money. If they raise their rates, parents can’t pay, so providers have to balance those rates with paying staff as much as possible.
Connie Serrano, the owner of Sunshine’s Preschool Academy, said she’s always trying to balance affordability.
“Parents are working and half of their income is paying towards child care,” she said.
But, she said, there’s a lot of turnover in teachers because of the low wages.
A recent study showed almost half of children under 5 whose parents work, have no available licensed child care option. It also found almost 70% of children who are eligible for a subsidy are not enrolled in a subsidized child care program.
The next steps are to go after funding and support, Vargas said.
“Child care has to be a public good, it shouldn't be something that only moms, or parents are thinking about,” she said. “Politicians have to think about it, business owners have to think about it. Educators have to think about it together so we can find solutions because it impacts all of us.”
County leaders will work on the plans over the next two years.
