Many believe the pandemic has made it clear we need to do a better job of recognizing the people who help to keep our businesses and families in motion including the underpaid and undervalued childcare worker.

"We put our trust and our faith in these people to care for our children while we're at work," said Sara Cattane of St. Clair Shores and a patient care tech at St. John's Hospital in Detroit. "And we can work because of them. I feel that they deserve to be paid more for what they do."

Cattane and her husband have a 2-year-old son who is in a small daycare. During the pandemic it remained open to help many of its parents who were essential workers.

It struggled during the most recent wave of COVID-19 variants – having to close when an outbreak at the school and even among its families – but still remained open.

When they had to close they offered parents a reimbursement on their tuition or a credit.

"I know a lot of day cares do not do that," said Cattane, who feels fortunate to have the day care center she has but knows many parents who are still struggling to find proper caregivers.

"The pandemic has rocked every aspect of people's lives," she said.

Some childcare services that were shutdown at the start of the pandemic never reopened and those that tried ran into the same trouble as other small businesses; no help available.

Ongoing crisis

Michigan League for Public Policy (MLPP), Kids Count in Michigan and Think Babies Michigan said this is largely due to the fact that the workforce caring for the state's youngest children ages 0-2 aren't compensated at a level that makes it possible to recruit and retain qualified staff.

"This is a crisis that is deep and that has become chronic," Monique Stanton, president and CEO of the MLPP said in a recent report. "Early childhood is a crucial time – a time when children's brains are developing faster than any other time in life — but our system doesn't reflect that. The care and education of infants, toddlers and their families is often under prioritized, and the workers that provide care for these little Michiganders are woefully undercompensated."

Cattane concurred.

"I feel that they deserve to be paid more," she said, and while she would be willing to help, her budget is just as tight as the next family and with the cost of everything rising it would have to be a small increase.

Stanton said Macomb County has a significant deficit in terms of child care availability and while several factors have contributed to the crisis, worker pay is among the biggest.

Eight out of 10 child care centers identified wages as their main challenge in recruiting new workers. Home visiting programs also reported limited funding for staff as the biggest barriers to serving families, according to the MPP report.

"The low wages for early childhood workers are endemic," Stanton said. "For example: child care workers are among the lowest earners in Michigan with a median wage of $11.13 per hour. Many of them rely on public assistance to make ends meet, and nearly one in five lives below the poverty line," said Ericka Taylor, co-chair of Think Babies, which is a prenatal-to-three policy collaborative of nearly 1,900 parents, advocates and organizations working to make Michigan a top state to have a baby and raise a child. "The low wages are resulting in staffing turnover as high as 30%. We are committed to putting recommendations into action, thereby improving the lives of our babies while also making sure those who work with them are adequately prepared and paid to do so."

Childcare providers

JoAnne Clarke of Sterling Heights is a child care worker who operated a home visiting program for more than 22 years.

But the pandemic and poor wages did her in.

"It was absolutely the best job in the world," Clarke said. "It allowed me to make such an impact on so many children and families. I've had 97 children under my care over the years."

As a young mother of two working as a human resource administrator she relied on daycare herself. However, when baby number three came along she decided to give up her job and become a licensed child care provider.

"I left a position I had for 12 years, with five weeks vacation, a pension, 401K plan and full benefits," Clarke said.

But the idea of managing all that and three children was a task she could not fathom.

So, she began the process of becoming a child care provider, which included applying for a license, adding liability insurance to her already outrageous homeowner's insurance and hiring a licensed contractor to childproof her home inside and out.

"You have to make sure the playground has proper material underneath it," Clarke said. "To obtain a license I had to be fingerprinted and go through a drug screening and physical to prove health-wise we are capable of caring for children."

She also completed a course in CPR and being a former HR administrator created a handbook of guidelines for her parents.

She could not have been more enthused about her work.

While in high school she aspired to be a teacher but at that time there was a surplus so she strayed from her passion to work with children. As a childcare provider she found her niche and both she and her children thrived.

"I kept a journal for all of my kids so their parents would know what they did all day," Clarke said.

It also allowed them to share in early childhood milestones. She was licensed for six children but that included her own three. At one point she and her husband were both providers enabling them to care for 12  children.

To this day her kids still talk about the fun they had with Ms. Clarke. One young man, who grew up under her care, remembers how she catered to his passion for dinosaurs and how the two of them would spend hours in her yard digging up bones. He had no idea what he was finding were chicken and rib bones that she buried each day before he arrived for a hunt.

All of this was provided to parents for $180 a week.

Then came the pandemic and rules that were forever changing.

She was a stickler for details and never one to go against the system but in some cases she felt the need to put her children first. If a child cried she comforted them. Her kids also never wore a mask while in her care. Their parents did and when the numbers got higher she insisted they not enter her home but drop their children at the door. Had she been forced to make a one-year-old wear a mask, she said she would have given up her license right then and there.

She also came up with a COVID-19 response plan, which was among the requirements for caregivers. Being a former HR administrator, what she created became a model for others. She also came up with a work schedule that included the sanitizing and cleaning required by the state but also her own standard. So, now instead of 10 hours of day she was putting in 12 and 13 hours a day on top of the hour it took her to prepare the lunches and dinners for the following day, another perk for her parents.

Former childcare provider, JoAnne Clark, right, with two of the children she had under her care. Photo courtesy of Clarke

What escalated with the hours were the costs.

"I paid $30 for two cans of Lysol (at the height of the pandemic) and when a parent had to keep their child home, I gave them credit or a reimbursement," Clarke said. "I had essential care parents and I felt the need to do my part to keep them working."

At one point she was able to get a grant but ended up having to pay a portion of it to her parents who were essential workers.

What helped were the parents, who dropped off supplies when they could and groups such as Great Start to Quality, who dropped off personal protection equipment when it was difficult to find.

"Thank goodness I was paid in hugs," she mused. Otherwise she wouldn't have lasted as long as she did.

Costs and subsidies

Clarke's parents were paying less than $200 a week but that's a rare treat in today's industry.

According to the Economic Policy Institute analysis of October 2020 data, childcare in Michigan is expensive. The state's average cost of infant care is $10,861—that's $905 per month. Child care for a 4-year-old costs $8,890, or $741 each month.

Child care is unaffordable for typical families in Michigan.

  • Infant care for one child would take up 19% of a median family's income in Michigan.
  • According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), child care is affordable if it costs no more than 7% of a family's income. By this standard, only 9.3% of Michigan families can afford infant care.

Families with two children face an even larger burden.

  • Child care for two children—an infant and a 4-year-old—costs $19,751. That's 48.7% more than average rent in Michigan.
  • A typical family in Michigan would have to spend 34.6% of its income on child care for an infant and a 4-year-old.

HHS affordability standard: Child care should cost no more than 7% of a family's income.

  • For an average family with children, annual childcare costs are 19% of their median income ($57,054)
  • For a minimum-wage worker, annual childcare costs are 54% of median income ($20,072)
  • For a typical child care worker, annual childcare costs are 49% of median income ($22,150)

The good news is the state's record $1.4 billion childcare budget could really turn things around for the industry.

"There will be grants to help childcare providers keep their doors open," Stanton said.

There will also be an increase in the income eligibility for childcare subsidies.

"That helps increase the affordability for lower-income families," Stanton said.

Childcare providers will also receive subsidies to help raise their annual earnings, which will help many of the smaller daycare centers and family visiting programs. Parents interested in determining if they are eligible for the childcare subsidy can visit GreatStarttoQuality.org or michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-63533_63534_72609—,00.html

Lastly, there is $130 million that will be made available for startups — that might become more appealing once people start appreciating them for what they are.

"I never sat on children, I cared for them," Clarke said, adding on behalf of the caregivers she knows that are still trying to earn a living. "We are babysitters. We are caregivers who have been entrusted with the greatest treasure in your life."

Oakland Press reporter Mark Cavitt contributed to this report.