Why Care About Child Care

The Importance of Quality Child Care

Quality child care is not just a concern for parents - it affects everyone. Our businesses, our communities, ultimately our country's future, all lead back to our children. Overwhelming research shows that the future will be based upon their early childhood years. You will find answers to these questions and a downloadable flyer below. How does this affect you?  Where are we now? What can we do to improve child care in PA?

How does this affect you?

You work with, or know someone who depends on child care. According to the 2000 Census, 65 percent of mothers with children under six, and 78 percent of mothers with children ages six to 13 are in the labor force.1 If your coworker, employee, friend, relative or business associate does not have reliable child care, he or she will likely miss work, meetings, turn to you for help, or leave the workforce entirely.

A child's mind develops most in the first five years of life. Research has shown that the first five years of life are crucial in a child's emotional and intellectual development. A child's daily activities greatly affect her brain development. "Daily interaction plays an important role in a child's emotional and mental development. While the brain is forming and 'learning' how to develop, consistent positive interaction is needed to ensure proper brain activity. Poor day care hinders a child's brain activity and impedes development by discouraging interaction and limiting environmental stimulation."²

Children that receive quality child care do better in school. Several studies have shown that the benefits of quality child care follow an individual throughout their school careers. For example, The Abecedarian Project was a carefully controlled study in which 57 infants from low-income families were randomly assigned to receive early intervention in a high quality child care setting and 54 were in a non-treated control group. Some of the results include:

• Children who participated in the early intervention program had higher cognitive test scores from the toddler years to age 21.
• Academic achievement in both reading and math was higher from the primary grades through young adulthood.
• Intervention children completed more years of education and were more likely to attend a four-year college.

Children that do better in school are more likely to become productive members of society, thus strengthening our communities and our economy.

Download a flyer that you can distribute to parents and the community (PDF)

return to top

Where We Are Now

Many children are in some form of daily care. 
For the year 2000, The Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children estimates that 859,550 of Pennsylvania's children, ages birth to 8, were in some form of daily care, with 299,659 children in regulated child care. ⁴

Many families need subsidies to afford care. Currently, about 1,000 children are on the waiting list for subsidies in Pennsylvania. Families that do not enter the child care system through the welfare system or do not have a child with special needs are most likely to be put on waiting lists. In addition, many eligible families are not aware of the financial assistance available and do not apply for subsidies.⁵

Turnover of child care staff is very high, while compensation is low. A major obstacle that many child care programs face in providing quality child care is high turnover of staff due to inadequate compensation. Annual turnover ranges from 31 percent for teachers, who earned an average of $16,556 in 1999, to 51 percent for aides, who earned $11,427.6 Because of high turnover, children may have as many as three new teachers or aides in a year, which disrupts their ability to learn and makes it difficult for them to develop bonds with those that care for them.

Low compensation impedes child care staff's ability to receive additional training. Although it is well documented that the quality of child care is directly related to the level of training of the child care staff, the compensation of child care staff is so low it is prohibitive for them to receive additional training.

return to top

What We Can Do To Improve Child Care in Pennsylvania

Increase compensation for child care staff. A child care worker does his/her job because of a love for children. Many child care staff make less than a grocery store clerk and receive no insurance. In order to reduce turnover and provide better quality care for our children, compensation of child care staff needs to reach a level that reflects their responsibility.

PACCA's Efforts: PACCA is a partner in the Q.U.E.S.T. (Quality Education through Salaries and Training) initiative to improve outcomes for children in Pennsylvania through recruitment and retention of qualified early educators.

Make training and education available to child care staff. Studies have shown a direct correlation between the level of education and training of child care teachers and the quality of child care. In order to increase the quality of child care in Pennsylvania, staff needs to be able to receive training in early childhood education.

PACCA's Efforts: PACCA is the licensed administrator of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Pennsylvania Scholarship Program. This program is a partnership between child care staff, providers, the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship, and colleges across the state to provide funding and assistance to child care staff to obtain their CDA credential or Associates degree. Funds for the scholarships come from public and private donors.

Develop quality standards by which child care providers can be evaluated. Because of the diversity of child care programs, the quality can vary greatly from program to program. A common set of standards can help parents evaluate programs and give programs concrete ways to increase their quality.

PACCA's Efforts: PACCA is the watchdog organization for the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare's (DPW) Keystone STARS program. STARS is tiered quality performance standards built on current DPW licensing regulations.

Educate ourselves and our communities. Because of the critical development period a child experiences during the years she will be in child care, child care needs to be more than babysitting. Individuals, businesses, and community leaders should begin to raise the bar for child care to be early childhood education and be willing to devote the resources necessary to make this goal a reality.

PACCA's Efforts: Through the quarterly Care and Early Education Focus Newsletter, biweekly E-News and Action Alerts, PACCA keeps its members up-to-date on legislative, regulatory and other issues affecting child care in Pennsylvania.

For more information on the state of child care in Pennsylvania and how to promote quality child care, contact PACCA atinfo@pacca.org or (717) 657-9000.

Endnotes

1 A. Bachu and M. O'Connell (September, 2000) Fertility of American Women (Current Population Reports P20-526), Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
2 Burchinal, Lee & Ramey, 1989; Cost, Quality & Child Outcome team, et.al., 1995
3 "Experts Say Early Education Pays Off," (August 3, 2003) National Institute for Early Education Research,http://nieer.org/news/print.php?NewsID=640
4 Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, "From Building Blocks to Books: Learning from Birth through 8 in Pennsylvania," , June 2002.
5 U.S. Department of Public Welfare statistics.
6 Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, "Salary Levels and Their Impact on Quality of Care for Child Care Workers in Licensed Child Day Care Programs," June 1999.

return to top

Additional Resources

• Chicago Longitudinal Study - economic benefits of early education 

• NACCRRA Report: 2003 Child Care in the State of Pennsylvania - need new info!

• "Child Care in Pennsylvania: A Short Report on Subsidies, Affordability, and Supply," 1999

• National Academy of Sciences Board on Children, Youth & Families Study: From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development

• Economic Policy Institute report, "Inequality at the Starting Gate," October 2002

• Visit our Useful Links page for more information

return to top