Lack Of Affordable Child Care May Keep 133,000 In WA From Working

OLYMPIA, WA —As many as 133,000 Washingtonians could enter the workforce but are stuck at home because they don't have access to child care, according a new report from the state's Child Care Collaborative Task Force.

For their study, the task force says they reviewed Washington's child care industry before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and made several important discoveries:

• Child care should be considered essential infrastructure, and improving access will be key to rebuilding the state's flailing economy.
• Low and middle income families struggle to find affordable child care, as do families with unemployed parents or parents currently seeking job training or higher education.
• Quality child care often costs far more than families can afford — which has a knock-on effect of also hurting child care workers, as employers struggle with slim margins and often cannot pay healthy wages with benefits.
• The child care industry could be improved by giving child care workers competitive, living wages and health insurance. It would also be improved by addressing racial inequalities both for the workforce and for the families seeking child care.
• Significant change would be necessary to create a more accessible and affordable child care system.

The study notes that child care accessibility can vary dramatically by county. Here's a look at the percentage of families that lack access to child care by county, as found in the Child Care Task Force 2020 Child Care Industry Assessment Report:

Of course, not all of those 133,000 potential workers would enter the workforce once they get access to child care. But if they did, the Department of Commerce says they'd earn an estimated $14.7 billion dollars, generate up to $56.8 billion for Washington businesses, and net the state more than $1 billion in additional tax revenue — one big reason the state says the issue must be addressed.

Another reason is to address issues of racial and financial equity. Since the pandemic began last spring, women have been leaving the workplace at more than four times the rate of men, and the DOC says the rate is even more skewed in communities of color.

“We must invest in child care as essential infrastructure for strengthening Washington’s economy,” said Washington State Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “Lack of access to quality, affordable child care is forcing more families to make difficult and financially detrimental choices.”

To improve the situation, the Washington Child Care Collaborative Task Force is working on several recommendations to the state:

• Rework the state's child care subsidy program to pay providers the same subsidy rate for school-age children as they currently pay for preschoolers.
• Help parents return to the workforce by offering subsidies to those in job training, apprenticeships and education.
• Make subsidies more broadly available. To qualify for a subsidy currently, a family has to make less than twice the federal poverty level. The task force says changing that to 85 percent or less of the state's median income would be better.
• Make the job better for child care workers, by finding ways to raise wages and broaden their access to health insurance.

Now that the task force has identified these core problems and some potential solutions, they will compile their findings and create an implementation plan to present to legislators by June 2021.