The impact of Black people in early care and education cannot be overstated. Black women, in particular, have played a crucial role in American society, caring for multiple generations of children.
Recent reports indicate that 95 percent of child care workers are female. And although Black people make up only 13 percent of the total U.S. workforce, 18 percent of U.S. child care workers are Black.
Early education and child care represent the most racially diverse and lowest-paid sector of the teaching workforce. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that child care workers make an average of $14.22 an hour. That’s just $29,570 a year. And Black child care educators earn an average of 78 cents less per hour than their white counterparts.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, elected officials praised child care educators for their efforts to keep working and keep the economy going: Without them, parents could not have returned to work. Federal child care stabilization grants also played a pivotal role, keeping these programs open during the pandemic by providing subsidies to child care centers and to families.
Yet, the same officials who funded those grants don’t seem willing to extend that support. Now that the $52 billion pandemic-era funding has expired, many educators and families wonder about the future.
An estimated 70,000 child care programs could close in the U.S. because of the lost federal money, impacting nearly 3.2 million children.
Related: Evictions, high rents and strict rules plague in-home child care
America’s lack of ongoing investment in child care at the national and local levels will disproportionately hurt Black educators, children and families. Pre-pandemic, there was already limited availability of affordable options; new closures will deepen the challenges faced by parents in securing reliable and accessible care for their children.
Recently, 49 percent of parents who responded to a survey said they plan to spend about $18,000 on child care in 2024, while 23 percent will spend more than $36,000. Black median-income households generally spend a quarter of annual pay ($46,774) on child care for one child; very-low-income Black households can spend nearly half. White median-income households devote 15 percent of pay ($75,412) to child care.
I have heard many Black educators, parents and advocates express frustration at the way public officials have overlooked early care and education, especially home-based child care, whose owners typically operate on small margins and are particularly vulnerable to funding losses.
Millions of young children spend time in home-based child care, also known as family child care (FCC). Yet, there were 10,000 fewer family child care programs in the United States in 2022 than in 2019. This is in addition to the drop of more than 90,000 (42 percent) licensed family child care homes between 2005 and 2017.
Black educators I speak with advocate for all families to have access to early learning programs that meet their child and family needs. They believe that this can be achieved if more states increase funding for child care and commit to making systems more inclusive of FCC programs in order to give FCC educators access to the opportunities, support and resources they need to thrive.
For example, Maryland now includes FCC programs in state-funded pre-K programs, and last year California became the first state to launch a retirement fund for child care workers, inclusive of home-based child care programs.
We must advocate for similar policies at the national and local levels to increase investment in child care, including funding for higher wages, subsidies for low-income families and support for programs.
Related: OPINION: Home-based child care providers deserve better pay, working conditions and respect
I think about FCC educator Tiffany Taylor, CEO of The Baby Play Place Inc. in New York. As a Black female family child care educator, she is seldom taken seriously or recognized as a leader and professional in her field.
From being called a “babysitter” to being on the receiving end of racist, sexist and derogatory remarks, she and other Black child care educators must routinely navigate and overcome obstacles to providing high-quality child care to families in their communities. They must also deal with low pay, inflation, lack of benefits and high employee turnover. These challenges are forcing many Black family child care educators to close their doors, adding to the already depleted options for family child care across the country.
Still, Tiffany is aware of the impact she and other educators have on our country’s youngest learners. She refuses to give up. She is determined to advocate for additional investment by showing how better wages, funding and resources for child care can positively impact our communities.
Black early educators have made tremendous sacrifices to help hold up this country’s economic recovery. Yet they still face daily discrimination and inequities.
It’s time to give them the respect — and the funding — that they deserve.
Erica Phillips isexecutive director of the National Association for Family Child Care, the largest national organization focused on supporting family child care (FCC) educators, who offer high-quality early care and education in their homes.
This story about Black child care providers was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.