This singular educator was suddenly an integral part of not only my children’s lives, but mine, as well. I had known how important child care was before that, but the importance of child care and its accessibility has since remained abundantly clear.

When Connecticut’s budget proposal was rolled out earlier this year, the very importance of child care was noticeably absent. The budget’s lack of financial support led to the mobilization of 2,000 providers, educators and parents across the state speaking out in support of the necessary resources to sustain child care within the state. On International Women’s Day, March 8, many early child care centers and providers opened late to observe
A Morning Without Childcare. They too needed to show the impact of the lack of child care services within their local communities. Without access to program funding and accessibility for families, our state’s children are left without quality care and education, the essential tools needed to create opportunities in their lives.

Instead of supporting teachers with livable wages and lowering the burden of high costs of tuition for parents, the governor’s proposal reduced the number of families eligible to receive the Care4Kids child care
subsidies.

Early child care and childhood education programs have faced the uphill battle of being a nonpriority for years. Families pay too much, educators make too little, programs can’t survive, businesses can’t thrive, and children are stuck in the middle.

Parents pay, on average, $30,000 a year for two children, while educators are paid an average of $14.97/hour in center-based care and $8.50/hour in home-based care. In order to have a sustainable economy, no family in Connecticut should have to spend more than 7 percent of their income on child care costs, and securing compensation enhancements for educators must match those of their peers.

The state’s budget proposal is the last thing Connecticut needs in a time when teachers are leaving the field for higher-paying jobs and, ultimately, not returning. Consequently, without enough qualified staff, child care providers are operating below prepandemic capacity, closing classrooms and capping enrollments.

Not only has this current reality hurt providers and children’s ability to receive adequate care and education, the crunch for spaces and educators has disrupted parents’ careers and pressured businesses. In a
poll
commissioned by
Childcare for Connecticut’s Future Coalition
last fall, 81 percent of business leaders said their company had faced challenges arising from their employees lacking affordable early care options.

These are only a few of the consequences our state’s families and educators are suffering. Continuing to ignore and underfund these critical programs hurts both child care providers and the very future of our state by ignoring its children, parents and businesses.

When so many gathered for the rallies on March 8, it was to draw attention to the very fact that some of the most essential workers within our state had been pushed to the side for far too long. Now there is not a request, but rather a demand, for better options with smart legislative solutions to aid in filling the gaps.

To make immediate change, we must secure funding for the adoption of the Office of Early Childhood’s compensation scale for all licensed center and family care providers. This will aim to reach parity with education peers, starting with immediate compensation enhancements. Additionally, we must increase levels of enrollment in all state subsidy programs, retain Care4Kids eligibility at 60 percent of state median income and raise reimbursement rates to the 75th percentile.

In the long term, we must expand families’ access to child care, ensuring that no family spends more than 7 percent of their income on child care, with an additional $700 million investment, as a down payment for greater transformation toward financing the true cost of care.

Legislative solutions with investments in childcare at all levels of government will always be critical to ensure our state’s future is prosperous.

By recognizing the necessity of this investment, we can have a thriving economy and a sustainable childcare system. Just as my family thrived because of the childcare support from Helen. The two are not possible without each other, but solutions are.

So, what is Connecticut waiting for? Why haven’t our elected officials prioritized the very people who are shaping the future of Connecticut?

Connecticut, what would Helen say about your tone?

Allyx Schiavone is the executive director of Friends Center for Children in New Haven, and the co-chair of the Child Care for Connecticut’s Future coalition.