Not Mere Child's Play: Unpacking the Economics of Early Childhood Education and Care. The Wisconsin Taxpayer

Wisconsin Policy Forum. 633 West Wisconsin Avenue Suite 406, Milwaukee, WI 53203. Tel: 414-276-8240. Web site: https://wispolicyforum.org/

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9

Greater Milwaukee Foundation
PNC Foundation

Early Childhood Education; Child Care; Child Care Centers; Wages; Early Childhood Teachers; COVID-19; Pandemics; Family (Sociological Unit); State Aid; Tuition; Economics; Educational Legislation; Poverty

Early childhood education and care is critical to Wisconsin's families and businesses, offering a safe place for children to grow and learn during formative years while parents and other guardians participate in the workforce. Despite its importance, child care can be prohibitively expensive for some Wisconsin families, and the industry operates on easily eroded margins and relies on low-paid labor. This brief shows how all three sets of stakeholders within the child care system--families, employees, and operators--can be struggling at the same time. An understanding of this mutual challenge is essential to analyzing potential policy solutions and is a safeguard against proposals that, in seeking to address challenges for one group, might exacerbate difficulties for others. To illustrate these challenges, this brief examines the costs of child care provided in a licensed group center setting in Milwaukee County. [Additional financial support was provided by Mary Kellner.]

ERIC

2023

ED634051