Access to strong early childhood programs is critical for child development, and for North Carolina’s working families – especially for essential personnel who are fighting the COVD-19 pandemic.
Even before COVID-19 hit, many North Carolina communities faced a child care shortage. Almost half of all child care programs in the state are now closed. Extended closures will put many of them out of business permanently – making it incredibly hard for North Carolina’s families to go back to work when this crisis is over. New investments in our early childhood programs are critical for the future of our state.
Child care programs rely on tuition to operate, but most parents are home with their children during this crisis. Many of these small businesses will not survive the loss of their primary source of income, leaving parents without a place for their children when they need to go back to work.
Child Care Emergency Economic Support Package, recommendations from the NC Early Education Coalition
Looking for child care? Use the county search tool from the NC Division of Child Development
Fighting Poverty
High-quality early childhood programs help move families out of poverty. Reliable child care allows parents to work and earn higher wages. Children who attend early childhood programs are more likely to graduate high school, attend college, and earn more as adults.
Parents earn more when their children are enrolled in quality care. Women in particular earn more throughout their careers when their children have had access to quality care.
Building Young Brains
Early childhood programs help build kids’ brain power. Children who attend high-quality early education programs are more successful in school. They are much more likely to read well, graduate high school, go to college, and earn more as adults. They are even healthier as adults.
Return on Investment
Investing in early childhood education has a very high return on investment for taxpayers. Children who attend high-quality early childhood programs are less likely to need special education programs in public school. They earn more as adults and pay more taxes later in life.
The average cost of full-time child care for one child in North Carolina is around $10,000 per year (as of 2019). That is more than in-state tuition at UNC, and more than most NC homeowners pay for their mortgages.
Child care subsidies are a cost-sharing program between parents and the state. Low-income parents pay a portion of their income towards child care center fees, and the state provides a voucher for the remainder.
The vouchers enable parents to earn a living while their children receive an early education or participate in after-school learning.
The average child care subsidy in North Carolina is $7,000 per year – but this amount varies widely by county. However, the actual cost of full-time child care for one child is around $10,000 per year (as of 2019). This huge gap is one reason why child care centers struggle to stay open, and pay such low wages.
As of November 2019, there were over 38,000 children on the waiting list for child care subsidies in NC. Find current numbers for each county here. More than 300,000 children in NC are eligible for child care subsidies, but are not on a wait list.
The cost of high-quality care are much too high for many families – around $10,000/year per child.
In many North Carolina communities, there is also a severe shortage of early childhood providers, with far fewer slots available than children who need care. Many licensed child care centers and in-home providers have wait lists of a year or more.
The current system we use to finance early childhood education in North Carolina does not come close to meeting the true need in our state.
In North Carolina most early childhood teachers are women. While these professionals perform one of the most important jobs in our state, they also receive very low pay on average. In 2017, the median salary for child care workers in North Carolina was less than $21,000/year. One in five early childhood teachers has no health coverage.
Creating an affordable, accessible, quality early education system in North Carolina will require many improvements across the system, including:
Together with partners, NC Child is part of several important initiatives promoting a strong early childhood system in North Carolina, including:
Pathways to Grade-Level Reading
NC Early Childhood Action Plan
Leandro Report – WestEd Recommendations to Ensure a Sound Basic Education for All NC Children
