The U.S. childcare sector is grappling with job recovery and wage competitiveness issues, says a new report by the Center for American Progress 

According to a report published on October 19 by the Center for American Progress (CAP), by September 2023, the industry will have 3,75% less jobs than it did before the epidemic struck, which is the equivalent of 39,400 fewer individuals. Rose Khattar, who is also the director of economic analysis at CAP and a co-author of this column, said the following: "Simply put, the child care sector suffers from a shortage of good jobs, making it challenging to attract and retain workers, particularly when demand for child care is high."

According to the findings of the CAP investigation, the compensation for childcare workers is lagging behind, despite the fact that the job market is strong for low-wage industries. Earnings for workers in childcare were only 98% of those for waiters in 2022, while earnings for temporary substitute teachers were just 81% of those for waiters. 

An increase in tuition would not be helpful since it would place further financial hardship on families who are already working hard to cover the cost of daycare expenses. According to study conducted by the United States Department of Labor in 2018, the median cost of childcare in the United States reached as high as 19.3 percent of county median salaries, but this figure varied widely depending on the region and the type of care received by the kid. 

In the report, CAP experts strongly recommend that the government commit long-term resources to addressing these issues. Although the assistance provided by the federal government for child care stabilization grants was terminated in September 2023, the program has been maintained in several states, including Minnesota. The new grant program in Minnesota will invest $316 million into increasing the compensation of childcare workers over the course of the next two years.