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The NC General Assembly is still in session, which means there is still time for our elected officials to address the immediate child care needs of our youngest children, their families, and child care providers across our state. Employers’ voices are needed to communicate with legislators about the impact on their businesses and organizations due to the lack of child care availability for working parents and caregivers.
Parents are being forced to leave their jobs and interrupt their education due to their lack of child care options. With a tight labor market and our growing economy, affordable child care can bring parents and caregivers back to work and build a workforce with the education and skills needed for the jobs coming to our state.
The top priority is for the General Assembly to extend the Child Care Compensation Grants, which has been the first step in addressing the low wages of child care teachers, who are often not earning a living wage. The request is for a $300 million allocation for the grants program. Without these grants child care center directors will have to cut wages, teachers will leave their jobs, and child care programs will shut down.
As the NC General Assembly draws its budget negotiations to a close by June 30, it’s important for them to know that voters support child care funding. In April 2023, the NC Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey of 500 registered North Carolina voters about child care and found that:
- 79% of voters support increasing state funding to provide more working families with access to affordable, quality child care, including:
- 67% of Conservative Republicans
- 64% of Republicans
- 80% of Independents
- 91% of Democrats
- 80% Rural
- 84% City
- 76% Suburb
North Carolinians want their elected officials to provide funding for child care.
Responses from previous polls conducted by the First Five Years Fund in NC in partnership with NCECF have yielded similar results amongst NC voters across the political spectrum. Here are a few!
The NC Early Childhood Foundation has created a one-page fact sheet complete with background, talking points, and how to reach your legislator. It’s so easy that we encourage you to contact your legislator this week.
Want to know more? You can read our recent analysis of the Governor’s budget proposal to fund the Child Care Compensation Grants, NC Pre-K, and raise the child care subsidy for low-income families.