Parity for Providers

Here's another article on childcare providers banding together to make an important job easier. Most childcare providers are independent; that's what makes them continue to do what they do. I'm not sure what they do can be unionized.

Child Care Workers Seek Parity
Monday, September 5, 2005
By Jane C. Parikh

A job that, with little argument, is one of the most important that anyone hires to have done, is one that has never been for people who want big financial rewards.

The job of caring for other people's children requires endless patience and a real love of children, said Ella Ryder, executive director of Kalamazoo-based Child Care Resources. But relative to other careers, it remains undervalued, she said, making it, for many of those involved, a labor of love.

Nationally the average pay for a childcare worker is about $17,830 per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A preschool teacher makes an average of $23,940 per year. A kindergarten teacher, who would have the same educational background as many childcare providers, makes about $44,000 per year.

``Our society sees child-care providers as simply babysitters,'' said Ryder, whose non-profit organization advocates for quality child care through the training and support of child-care providers. ``We don't respect them even though we give them a lot of lip service.''
But that may change.

Bringing wages in line with the responsibilities of child care workers is the focus of an effort by AFSCME to organize state-licensed child-care providers.

``After years of silence, many childcare providers throughout the state are trying to build a relationship with the state of Michigan in terms of reimbursement, professionalization of the industry and having a real voice and respect in terms of their relationship with the state,'' said Boyd McCamish, area organizing director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Detroit.

Increased wages would start with providers who look after children whose parents are clients of the Department of Human Services. Ryder said the state is still using 1997 reimbursement rates. The average child-care provider in Detroit can, for instance, expect to make a minimum of $1.88 per hour per child for that service and a maximum of $2.50.

McCamish said raising the state reimbursement levels is a critical part of AFSCME's organizing effort. ``You couldn't be a single parent and do this for a living,'' Brown said. ``We all do it because we think what we do is worthwhile.''

Sharon Visser, who is licensed to care for six children in her Vicksburg home, said the birth of her daughter almost two years ago -- rather than money -- prompted her to open her childcare business. She said her fee scale is $135 per week for infants to 18 months and $125 for children 18 months and older.

``I enjoy working with children and I'm happy being at home with my kids and I really have taken steps to make this a career for me,'' Visser said.

But she and VanMaaren said they're not sure how being part of AFSCME would benefit them.
``From what I've read, the unions will make efforts to negotiate with states to increase subsidies and get some kind of health insurance. And being able to get affordable health insurance would be important to me,'' Visser said. ``But I'm not going to join a union.''

Brown said if unions could bolster the message that child care has been strengthened and improved that would be a huge help to child care providers in terms of raising their chosen profession in the eyes of society in general. Other than that, she said she's not sure what other positive outcomes would result from AFSCME's involvement.

VanMaaren and Visser both said they think they are taken seriously by the parents who employ them and don't need union representation. They said they understand the financial sacrifice many families make to have their children in quality child care settings.

Ryder said the average annual cost of childcare in the Southwest Michigan area is about $7,000 a year. VanMaaren said she's been on both sides -- as a working parent and now a provider.
``When my daughter came along I was thankful that my family was there, but I still had to pay them,'' VanMaaren said. ``There's not a lot coming in for me, but there's a lot going out for the parents.''