EXTON, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania’s Human Services Acting Secretary made a stop at a day care center near Exton on Friday to thank workers for their help throughout the pandemic, calling them the backbone of our economy.
However, workers say more support is needed for them as they help others.
Pennsylvania DHS Acting Secretary Meg Snead said in order for the economy to recover, people need to get back to work.
"I believe that a critical piece of that puzzle is adequate, high quality child care," Snead said.
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“Child care is really, really expensive...I think it’s a significant glaring issue when people who support this industry as part of the workforce rely on child care have to use subsidies to offset the costs because they’re not paid enough.”
Amber Bush, Business Director of the Warwick Childcare Center, said it wasn’t until the pandemic that many realized how crucial the work of day care workers is to a functioning economy and children’s well-being in society. A worker shortage of child care workers is also part of the problem.
“For a while, we’ve been taken for granted," Bush admitted.
“I believe more help needs to be given to these families who are struggling to pay just so they can go to work.”
That’s why Snead is encouraging people to apply for $655 million worth of federal funding allocated to Pennsylvania for child care centers.
“These can be really be used to take care of a variety of needs," said Snead.
“These dollars can be used to increase pay, they can be used for infrastructure costs, (they) can be used for incentives to keep teachers on board.”
Bush said that would be helpful, because a lot of their certified teachers will leave when a position becomes available at a local school.
"They’re able to pay more than we are, but we still need them to have the same qualifications," she said.
While two-thirds of eligible child care centers, including Warwick, have already applied for funding, she estimates the money provided to her center will only last about six months.
“We need long-term change," Bush said, with agreement from Snead.
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"It’s disproportionately impacting women, communities of color, low-income communities," said Snead.
Meanwhile, Bush points out even with subsidies, quality child care is nearly out of reach for many of the families they serve.
“We tend to rely on these people and we don’t pay them enough to be able to afford to send their children to child care so that they can go and do those jobs," Bush said.