Solving the child care crisis is key to advancing gender equity
As we honor women’s contributions in American history this Women’s History Month, we also recognize that our nation’s broken child care system underscores the persistent undervaluing of women and their work in our society, especially for women of color. This directly drives gender disparities in workforce participation, compensation, and representation in leadership. Failure to publicly invest in a comprehensive child care system has long kept women out of the labor force or unable to optimize their employment and earnings potential – outcomes that fuel economic, social, and political inequities for women.
The child care crisis is rooted in a system of gender inequity. Structural sexism permeates the early education and care system and is most acutely felt by women of color. Historically, child care was relegated to women both in and outside the home, and often specifically to women of color. Even now, the early education and care workforce is composed – overwhelmingly – of women (92%), and disproportionately of women of color (41%).
We also know women who work aren’t valued as much as men who work – illustrated by the gender pay gap across all sectors in this country. Women in early education and care however, are among the lowest earners, and pay is the least for women of color who care for infants and toddlers. Nationally, the median wage for child care workers ($11.65) and preschool teachers ($14.67) is less than the median wage for all occupations. In most states, including Massachusetts, the median child care worker wage for a single adult with one child is less than half the living wage.
These gender-based inequities have created a workforce crisis, with ripple effects felt across society. The care and education of our children is essential and, yet, the people entrusted with that care – overwhelmingly women and disproportionately women of color – earn less today than many fast-food workers and retail workers. Because of the low wages, these workers often find higher-paying jobs in other sectors or leave the workforce altogether, especially if they have children of their own who need care. This exodus of women from the early education and care sector is a microcosm of what is happening with women in the workforce at large.
The high cost of child care – and the inability to access it – has forced millions of mothers out of the workforce, especially in the last two years. The average annual cost for infant care in Massachusetts is nearly $21,000 and the average cost for a 4-year-old is a little over $15,000. For many families, it’s often cheaper to give up one paycheck in a household and provide that care at home than it is to stay in the workforce. We are seeing the impact of that: in 2021, there was a 6.5% decline (1.6 million) in the number of mothers working in the United States, compared to a year prior, and even the most recent job numbers show that women continue to be left behind.
Fewer women working means fewer women in positions of leadership. A recent McKinsey report found that burnout among women has persisted and escalated over the past year, largely due to child care breakdowns. This has led to a third of women considering leaving work altogether or looking for a job with fewer responsibilities, the consequences of which include the inability to advance to leadership roles.
Fewer women working means losing ground in the fight for economic, social, and political equity. Fewer women in the workforce and fewer women in leadership positions – in the public and private sectors – hinders efforts to achieve workforce policies, such as pay equity and paid family medical leave, that support women's advancement and their opportunity to maximize employment and earnings opportunities. Wage gap, paid leave, and child care hurdles also contribute to unequal representation in elected office, which in turn undermines efforts to enact legislation that would tear down such barriers.
We have an opportunity to change things in Massachusetts with the Common Start legislation. Without addressing gender pay disparity and assigning greater value to the service of caring for children, we will not overcome the problems plaguing the early education and care workforce. In Massachusetts, the proposed Common Start legislation would ensure all families have equal access to affordable, quality early education and care and advance improved compensation for educators.
Specifically, the bill would help advance gender justice and equity by:
● Ensuring that all families of all incomes are able to equitably access affordable, high-quality care, making it more likely that mothers stay in the workforce. Families with household incomes below 50 percent of statewide median income (SMI) would be able to access early education and child care options for free. From there, a sliding fee scale would apply. No family would pay more than 7 percent of their household income.
● Committing to pay equity for early educators. The legislation requires that wages and benefits for early educators be commensurate with annual pay scales for equivalent teacher positions in the public K-12 school system.
● Allocating foundational funding directly to providers, to promote program stabilization and grow early education and child care capacity. Funding would go directly to programs – many of which are women run or women-owned – to help cover the full range of operational costs associated with high quality early education and care.
● Supporting the professional development of early education and care professionals and advancing access to higher education. Educators would have access to scholarships, loan forgiveness, and other financial aid to achieve educational and professional goals.
We are closer than we have been decades to passing meaningful reform to our child care system. If we do, we will finally have taken that critical step toward gender equity that has eluded us for generations.
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