Kids Count on Us Statement on Childcare Center Closures
Statement from Kids Count on Us Regarding Childcare Center Closures in Minnesota
SAINT PAUL — September 9, 2024 — Kids Count on Us, an initiative of ISAIAH, released the following statement regarding the childcare crisis and the closing of childcare centers.
“For several years, childcare providers have raised alarm bells that childcare centers across the state were on the brink of shutting down. With the impending closing of three childcare centers licensed to serve a total of 195 children in Duluth and the surrounding area, along with the closing of the YMCA of Rochester child care center in August which was licensed to serve 160 children, this warning is now a reality.
With these closures, and others threatening to follow across the state, Kids Count on Us is calling on the Minnesota Legislature to make childcare funding their top budget priority in 2025.
It is a top priority for Senator Grant Hauschild who said, “If this was a natural disaster like a flood or a drought or a bridge collapse–we’d be talking about how to fix this immediately. This is a crisis and we need to take real meaningful steps to make sure families have the care they need and that these small business owners have the support they need so everyone can succeed and thrive.”
This past May, Kids Count on Us organized a Day Without Childcare, in which most of the childcare centers on the Iron Range shut down for a day to highlight how vital childcare is for a thriving community. Childcare providers traveled to the state capitol to share their stories of struggling to find staff so they can remain open. Teachers spoke of working multiple jobs to make ends meet because childcare wages are not nearly enough to survive on. Parents told of struggling to find childcare at all, let alone affordable childcare.
Parent Mikayla Kruschke recently learned the center in Duluth that she had expected to send her infant to is closing, "My family has been impacted by the lack of childcare in our area. My daughter was born in July and this is the second childcare that has fallen through for us. We don't have family in the area and both my husband and I work, so childcare is a necessity for us and so many families. The legislature needs to treat the childcare crisis like the emergency it is."
As Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has noted, child care is a failed market. On their own, families simply cannot afford to cover the cost of providing childcare. And this reality hides the fact that the existing cost of childcare is already based on taking advantage of a workforce that is grossly under-compensated.
Too many childcare teachers leave the profession due to low wages and burnout and many more never even enter the profession for these same reasons. Asking teachers to watch even more children is not a viable solution when providers cannot find staff now. Providers cannot provide “childcare slots” if they do not have teachers to staff them.
The way to close the gap between what families can afford to pay and the true cost of care is through robust public funding. We all deserve a childcare system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality for all families and pays thriving wages for teachers.
The Minnesota legislature needs to pass the Great Start Affordability plan authored by Sen. Grant Hauschild and Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Wittuhn early in 2025 in order to make sure all families can afford high quality early childhood care and education, and to prevent this crisis from escalating further into a total collapse.”