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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Child Care Teachers Deserve Worthy Wages |
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by National Women's Law Center
(No verified email address) |
03 May 2001
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WASHINGTON - May 1 - Following is the statement by Judith C. Appelbaum, vice-president, National Women's Law Center on worthy wage day:
Ed. Note: I'm not quite sure why they didn't simply call them Living Wages. Maybe they actually want more than a Living Wage ($8.20 hr), but that would be deserved. Nearly all child care workers in this area make less than a Living Wage, including those working for county government in its Head Start program. ML |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 1, 2001
CONTACT: National Women\'s Law Center
Margot Friedman or Lela Shepard, 202-588-5180
WASHINGTON - May 1 - Following is the statement by Judith C. Appelbaum, vice-president, National Women\'s Law Center on worthy wage day:
Today, in the nation\'s Capitol and around the country, child care workers are speaking out for better wages, benefits and working conditions. We are here today because we are on their side.
As a women\'s organization, we understand that women have a double stake in how our nation\'s child care teachers are treated. Overwhelmingly, child care teachers are women - and these hardworking women deserve compensation that is commensurate with the challenging and important responsibilities they carry. At the same time, over 70 percent of American women with children are now in the paid workforce -- which means these women and their families must have access to affordable, high-quality child care. And we know that child care will not be high quality if the workers who provide it do not receive decent compensation for their work.
Is it any wonder that there is a child care crisis in this country? Despite the critical role that child care workers play in the lives of our children, they are among the nation\'s lowest-paid workers. In 1999, the average hourly wage for a child care worker was $7.42, or $15,430 annually based on a 52 week year and a 40 hour week. Sadly, child care workers earn far less annually than bus drivers ($26,450), barbers ($20,970), and even pet sitters ($17,160). Poor compensation results in a high turnover rate for child care workers, and as the latest report from the Center for Childcare Workforce indicates, half of the workers who leave their child care jobs will leave the child care field permanently. Sadly, it is children who suffer most because the quality of child care declines when turnover is high and child care wages are low.
Today, we applaud Senator Christopher Dodd and Representatives George Miller and Ben Gilman, and their co-sponsors, who are introducing legislation that will begin to address this pressing problem. The Focus on Committed and Underpaid Staff For Children\'s Sake Act - the \"FOCUS\" Act -- will promote quality child care by providing financial assistance to states for programs to increase the education and retention of skilled child care workers. The FOCUS Act will help child care workers get a higher education in fields that are related to the care and development of children by providing annual scholarships in amounts up to $1,500 per year. It will encourage child care workers who have attained a credential or higher degree to remain in the child care field by making retention grants available to them to supplement their low wages.
We don\'t have to look far for proof that increasing the training and compensation of child care workers improves the quality of child care. Last year, the National Women\'s Law Center released a groundbreaking study, Be All That We Can Be: Lessons from the Military for Improving our Nation\'s Child Care System. This report showed how the U.S. military successfully transformed a seriously deficient child care system into one that now serves as a model for child care reforms nationwide. One of the key findings was that as caregivers in the military system began to receive better compensation - and increased training tied to compensation increases -- staff turnover was reduced dramatically, and staff morale and professionalism improved. And of course, it\'s the kids who benefit the most when this happens. If we can do this for children in military child care, we can and must make the same commitment for American families who do not happen to be in the military.
The FOCUS Act will lead to the development and support of state programs to increase child care teacher compensation, reduce teacher turnover, and ultimately improve the quality of child care across the United States. It\'s a proposal that everyone here today, those taking action in the states, and every American who cares about the nation\'s future, can get behind. After all, our children deserve nothing less.
The National Women\'s Law Center is a non-profit organization that has been working since 1972 to advance and protect women\'s legal rights. The Center focuses on major policy areas of importance to women and their families including economic security, education, employment and health, with special attention given to the concerns of low-income women.
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See also:
http://www.nwlc.org/
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