PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Many child care centers across Philadelphia closed Monday to join local events as part of the national “Day Without Child Care.”
After a rally at City Hall Monday morning, many child care center owners gathered in a field near Kinder Academy along Rising Sun Road in Northeast Philadelphia for a block party, replete with Spongebob Squarepants and Peppa Pig running around, entertaining children.
But for the adults, both events were used to grow awareness for what organizers say is a need for a better child care system, particularly federal funding for livable wages for workers and affordable care for all families, as well as an equitable child care system based on racial justice.
“It’s important to pay the child care staff a livable wage,” said Edin, who has a child in day care. “They deserve it, it’s hard work, and I couldn’t imagine a life without them.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average child care worker's hourly wage was $13.31 per hour in May 2021. For all workers that month, the average hourly wage was $28.01 per hour.
Related Jawncast: Some child care centers in Philadelphia closed on Monday to demonstrate the need for better pay.
Aliyah Logan with Smart Beginnings Early Learning Center said that it’s time for lawmakers to see the urgency for better wages and affordable care.
“I think that they hear us when it’s time for elections, but I don’t think that they hear us. I don’t think that they see us,” said Logan. “I think they look at us like many parents look at us, as babysitters.”
They are not babysitters, they often face the same demands as K-12 teachers, and they want their paychecks to reflect that.
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Shineal Hunter, the owner of Family Circle Academy in Olney, said the first five years of a child’s life are crucial to their development.
“Why do we not make education a primary [priority] for those first five years so that we make an impact in the beginning, versus when they get to kindergarten?” Hunter asked.
Leslie Spina, executive director of Kinder Academy, added that child care is the backbone of the economy.
“It costs a lot of money to do high-quality work, to provide our children to continue to have success in K-12,” Spina said.
“I believe that what I’m doing is important because I am educating the future. We’re holding the economy down and we need to be paid as such,” Hunter added.
Organizers said the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated already-existing problems in the child care system, and they want to make sure lawmakers understand the need for improvements in early child care across the board.
“Child care will never go away, but the part of the industry that’s high-quality is on the verge of collapse,” said Spina.
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