The Child Care Crisis Through the Eyes of a Caregiver

Low wages, high turnover, and poor hygiene at daycare centers are unhealthy for both tots and teachers

by Clotilde Wright, Free Press contributor

As a full-time childcare provider in a preschool, I am responsible for the mental and physical well-being of the many children I care for during their most formative years. With a goal teacher/child ratio of one to seven, I stay constantly busy. Many would agree that I have a very important job. However, I've come to a crossroads in my professonal life. I don't know if I can financially afford to stay at my job. I fear that I may become another statistic in the tragic merry-go-round of daycare employee turnover. This turnover, combined with other factors, makes the state of childcare in the US perhaps among the worst in the world.

Employee turnover is 29 percent annually for childcare teachers, and 55 percent annually for teacher assistants, according to the Center for the Childcare Workforce. Experience has taught me that people can't stay because the pay is low, while the level of stress and responsibility are high, at times overwhelmingly so. Childcare teachers work hard to provide safe and enriching environments for the children they care for, yet they receive little compensation for their efforts. The average daycare hourly wage in Washington state was a grim $7.19 an hour in 1996, based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only 18 percent of childcare centers offer health benefits. Even childcare workers who are paid above the average often find themselves a paycheck away from being homeless.

The most disturbing reality of this situation is that the children are the ones who suffer the gravest consequences. Many children in daycare from birth to six years will often form a powerful bond with their caregiver, second only to a caring parent in the home. Children are left in the dust when this trusted advocate leaves because s/he cannot afford to stay. A dedicated daycare worker is sometimes the only sane and stable force in a child's life. The disappearance of a caregiver they've grown to trust and love is devastating. Some fear that children who have been in daycare from infancy may never bond well with others because of caregiver turnover.

The children often suffer as well when they don't get the loving attention they need. The teacher-child ratio is often too high. When a teacher leaves, the interim is a turbulent time, the children may have a different substitute every day. Sometimes classes are brought together to make up for inadequate staffing, and routimes are broken. Needless to say, these changes upset the children. One of my co-workers has had to work with five different co-teachers in one year. She is now also leaving because she can't stand the stress of dealing with the kids during teacher transitions.

Due to inadequate funding and little-to-no teacher support, childcare centers are often dirty and grimy, falling below America's standard of cleanliness. Teachers don't have the time , and aren't paid enough to scrub floors, ceilings and walls everyday. Many Americans wouldn't dine in a filthy restaurant or live in a dirty house, but expect children and teachers to work and live in this kind of environment. Centers often display third rate furniture and materials, another consequence of inadequate funding.

The younger the child, the greater the demand for one-on-one time which can provide assurance, love, and help. There is a twisted logic going on: the younger the child, the greater the need, the lower the employee compensation, and the higher the employee turnover rate.

My question is: how do we expect to be a world power when as a society we put scant resources towards supporting our children during their foundation years, while other societies have already gotten the picture? I hope the public and our representatives will ponder this question before it is too late.