They’re currently paid based on rates from at least five years ago. The contract deal addresses one of their biggest demands: a promise and a timeline from the state to overhaul the way providers get paid for subsidized child care.įamily child care workers have long complained that the state calculates reimbursement rates for subsidized child care based on outdated market prices. In 2019, they won the right to collectively bargain by successfully arguing that they’re employees of the state because they receive public funding for serving lower-income families who qualify for subsidized care.
#THE FOREST CAN I SAVE MY SON YET PROFESSIONAL#
(Beth LaBerge/KQED)įor 16 years, family child care workers sought to form a union to improve their pay and obtain benefits such as health care, a retirement plan and access to professional development training.
A little over 50% of family child care providers in California are 50 years old or older, yet less than a quarter of them have any retirement savings, according to research from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley. When license-exempt carers are added (family members, friends or neighbors who care for children), that number rises to about 40,000, according to the union. There are more than 24,700 (PDF) licensed family child care providers in the state. … when feeling much more professionally supported I think that they can show up the way they need to be.”įamily child care providers are small-business owners who care for children out of their homes. “If an educator is worrying about whether or not they’re going to be able to put food on the table or if they’re going to get their lights turned back on, they’re not going to be able to bring their whole self and all that they know and need to be for children at this age. She said improving work conditions will raise the quality of care for California’s youngest residents. “It’s really a huge step forward in terms of equity when you think about who the workforce is,” said Brandy Jones Lawrence, a senior analyst at the UC Berkeley center.
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