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Reseda Child Care Provider Antonia Rivas looks on as Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield visited her day care. He wanted to learn more about our Fight for $15 and the other California legislation we’re pushing for. Click here to see more pictures from the day. |
California workers won an historic minimum wage victory when Governor Brown signed SB3 into law on April 4th.
Just days later, child care providers and parents across the state held press events on April 7th to call on elected leaders to take the next step for working families by investing in affordable, quality child care and a stronger workforce.
These events highlighted the need for greater access for parents to quality child care and a $15 minimum wage and a union for child care providers.
“We’ve made history in California with a $15 minimum wage, but our work isn’t done. Millions of mothers are shut out of care that enables them to earn any paycheck, and child care providers are excluded from the minimum wage and voice in our work,” said Reseda Child Care Provider Antonia Rivas. “With today’s proposals and our continued leadership in the Fight for $15, early educators are building a stronger child care system for California families to count on and fighting for inclusion and a voice.”
Rivas, who hosted a tour of her family child care center, added that a lack of training opportunities and the absence of a fair process to resolve disputes with third party agencies that administer payments to early educators are driving child care providers away from the child care profession.
Attending her April 7 tour were Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, L.A. County Supervisor Kuehl’s Sr. Field Deputy Timothy Lippman, and Special Needs Network President Areva Martin.
“When we invest in child care, everyone wins—children can learn and play in an enriching environment, parents can go to work, and child care teachers will be paid fairly for the important work they do,” said Councilman Blumenfield
The call for investment in California’s early education workforce came a day after the Economic Policy Institute released a report demonstrating that raising child care wages to $15 per hour and making a significant investment in early education will strengthen our economy and help parents create better lives for their families.
Child care workers are among the lowest paid workers in the country, with a median hourly wage that is nearly 40% lower than the median hourly wage of workers in other occupations. Nationwide, nearly half are forced to rely on public assistance for things like food, health care and housing. Because they are considered contractors and not employees, child care providers who support parents in low-wage jobs are excluded from $15 minimum wage signed into law earlier this week. Studies have shown that after they pay their assistants, buy food and books for the children, and cover other operating expenses, they earn as little as $4.98 an hour.
At the same time, the EPI study demonstrated the cost of early childhood care is out of reach for too many parents. Infant care can cost nearly $1000 per month in California, or $3000 more per year than college tuition.
“Full time care for an infant in California costs more than of $13,000 a year, putting parents like me in an impossible situation—we can’t work without child care but we can’t afford the child care we need to work,” said Masey Castro, a hairdresser and mother of a 2-year-old in Rivas’ care during the day. “I’m standing with Raising California Together in support of solutions to fix California’s child care system so I can take care of my daughter and make ends meet.”
Local family child care providers will be among the early educators joining fast food workers, retail workers, hotel workers, college faculty, and others as part of the national Fight for $15 strike actions on April 14th to underscore the need for child care workers to earn the $15 equivalent and have a union.
Their action comes at a pivotal time for California’s young people. Too little investment in early education is driving California’s achievement gap. One million California children are eligible for subsidized care but can’t access it because the state hasn’t funded spaces for them.
The policy proposals the coalition committed to fighting for this year include:
- Establishing a $15 wage equivalent for child care providers, who are excluded from this week’s landmark $15 minimum wage.
- Supporting the Legislative Women’s Caucus’ goal of a $800 million investment this year to expand access to quality early education for California’s children.
- Mending cracks in the child care system that put child care providers out of business and reduce child care access.
