The coronavirus pandemic intensified a lot of issues of American life, and as much as any other, the childcare industry struggled. Providers described the state of the industry as in “crisis mode.”
National surveys and state data can help with finding solutions, but North Central Michigan College in Petoskey decided to conduct its own county-level survey on childcare. The results were released on Tuesday. WCMU News Director Amy Robinson spoke with Rick Brewer about the findings.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
Amy Robinson: There are a lot of layers to childcare issues in Michigan. Let's start with parents. What did they say in the survey?
Rick Brewer: The number one concern for parents in Emmet County was the lack of availability of childcare. And that's nothing too surprising. The survey takers told me and it's nothing new. But what is interesting about the responses when it comes to childcare options, is the fact that affordability was a relatively low concern for parents. We also found that some parents in Emmet County aren't sure what affordability looks like, what exactly does affordability mean. There's also a lot of concern about affordability from the provider side. They also spoke with parents in focus groups during the survey. And I want to play a clip to give people a sense of how parents are thinking about childcare decisions. And this is Jennifer Wixson of North Central Michigan College, they conducted the survey.
Jennifer Wixson: Even in planned pregnancies, many of them did not start even thinking about childcare, until the third or sixth month. When asking them when they started thinking about college costs for their children. It usually was in pregnancy or as soon as their child was born. They're thinking about college, decades ahead of time, and thinking about childcare, which not only impacts the care of their child, but also a career decision within just a few months.
RB: Another finding from the survey is that parents would like to see employers offer more flexible work schedules, more remote work options, benefits surrounding childcare, things like maternity leave, maybe the idea of having childcare in the physical place of business where these people work, and just flexible schedules in general.
AR: When it comes to childcare providers, what did they say are some of the issues they're facing?
RB: So, the survey heard from 25 childcare providers in Emmet County. And what they found in the survey is that a lot of these providers don't have a firm grasp on what they should be charging parents for services. And in many ways, they are guessing and not factoring in business decisions when it comes to the cost of care. And I want to play you another clip from Jennifer about the business side of the industry. Let's listen what she said.
JW: Of our survey of childcare providers who provided full-day, full-year care, inclusive of infants and toddlers, 60% of them did not have a budget or business plan.
RB: Jennifer also told me that providers said they got into the business to help families and work with kids. And they're not necessarily as interested in the business side of things. That's left some providers without a sustainable option to stay in business a lot of the times. And another thing that Jennifer told me when I spoke with her on the phone is that the state is also looking into ways to address this issue as well. They're considering revising the registration process when people want to set up facilities so that they are required, more or less, it's obviously up to see what it will become. But they want to add a business plan to the beginning stages before a new childcare facility is open here in Michigan.
AR: So, Rick, looking at this new Emmet County survey, what are the next steps in the process there?
RB: So, what Jennifer told me is that what makes this survey interesting is that they've been working with a lot of non-traditional groups, and that's primarily businesses or other community organizations to try and solve this problem, as a county. A lot of national surveys don't always necessarily factor in a local business when they're trying to find these types of solutions. And so what they're going to do from here is they're going to take these results, and they're going to present them to all the all the stakeholders in the county, and they're gonna start thinking of plans. And one of the plans that Jennifer said that they're considering is some sort of like childcare co-op system. It's super early, it's just in the early stages, but the idea that businesses maybe contribute a fee that they all sort of collectively contribute to sustain a childcare facility for local business owners. But that's the primary goal is to get a lot of different people involved to solve this problem together as a county.
AR: Rick Brewer, thanks for your time.
RB: Thank you, Amy.
