(The Center Square) – Addressing the critical shortage in child care workers, the House passed a bill Wednesday that creates the scaffolding for a $55 million item in Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal.
The funding would go toward recruitment and retention bonuses for child care workers that would amount to up to $1,000, potentially offsetting the prohibitively low wages in the field.
“Right now, we have 3,000 unfilled jobs in child care centers across Pennsylvania and when families can’t find safe, affordable child care for their kids, it forces them out of our workforce and hurts our economy,” said Shapiro in February when promoting the plan.
The bill introduced by Children and Youth committee chair Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-Whitehall. It passed the House with some measure of bipartisan support receiving a vote of 113-90.
“This investment would not only help stabilize our child care workforce and provide quality care and education to our youngest learners, but it will also support the broader workforce and strengthen Pennsylvania’s economy by keeping parents from leaving their jobs due to high costs or lack of childcare,” wrote McNeill.
While wages and staffing numbers have begun to rebound since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry is still struggling. The demand for child care in the state continues to exceed the staffing available to meet it.
According to the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, in 2022 75% of eligible children for the state’s Child Care Works program went unserved. That amounts to more than 135,000 children.
In a report from the Independent Fiscal Office, the average weekly wage for child care workers was $603, less than half of the average for private-sector employees. Meanwhile, the cost to families has ballooned to more than $10,000 annually per child statewide.
