BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- One of the country's most significant concerns amid the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic surrounds early childhood education programs' ability to fully open, as enrollment falls and stay-at-home orders force facilities to close, and its impact on the broader economy.
To understand the effect of the pandemic on child care in the United States and forecast the potential for economic recovery, Curacubby and the California Quality Early Learning (CQEL) commissioned The State of Child Care in 2020: A Survey of 300-plus Child Care Directors. The survey is the largest national survey of child care facilities to date in 2020.
The results of the survey are grim, with the majority of child care facilities reeling financially amidst plummeting attendance and decreasing revenues. Among the notable findings:
- Child care programs are operating at 27 percent capacity.
- Most programs have lost over a third of their revenue.
- The average child care would be financially insolvent in three months if they had to close for COVID.
- The average child care has had to lay off a little less than half of its staff to survive the decrease in enrollment.
- Women's careers are significantly more impacted by a negative state of child care in an already fragile employment environment.
Read the full report here: https://www.curacubby.com/blog/child-care-survey
Steven Khuong, Curacubby’s CEO, says: “While there has been a tremendous focus on public schools during the pandemic, it's not only worthwhile but critical that we begin to meaningfully examine how private school closures in early childhood education impact both the social-emotional development of our young children as well as the potential for a national economic recovery.”
Child care contributes $99 billion to the U.S. GDP annually and generates employment for nearly two million workers. It is also a critical enabler of working parents, allowing them – and especially women – to work and raise a family at the same time. And an already limited child care market pre-pandemic kept at least two million parents home annually.
In response to these results, Dave Esbin, CQEL’s Executive Director, adds: “We’ve all heard the qualitative evidence of the hardships faced by child care providers. The stories are all narratives of struggle – struggle to stay afloat and of deciding between educating children, enabling adults to get back to work, and putting staff and family health at risk, and struggle with deciphering a mountain of health and safety information. This is the first time that we have deep quantitative evidence of this struggle. It is a megaphone for how urgently the child care industry needs stimulus to continue educating young children and helping America’s families get back to work.”
The results of the survey are clear: Child care facilities in the United States are at risk of decimation without a strong intervention. And without quality child care available, parents are unable to return to work, leaving families to grapple with the precarious job balancing work and child care, or financial survival and child development. This survey gives us a first-hand account of the industry: where child care programs are struggling, what interventions are needed, and how child care is a lifeline for our national economic recovery.
About Curacubby
Curacubby is a school administration software provider for child care organizations, preschools, K-12 schools, and enrichment programs and camps. The solution was designed by education operators and parents to simplify school management by connecting enrollment, registration, attendance-based information, tuition management, and other financial transactions such as donations and school store purchases. Curacubby automates administrative processes for schools, enabling them to save time and money, operate more efficiently, and scale with ease.
About California Quality Early Learning (CQEL)
CQEL is a non-profit with the sole mission to improve the quality of California child care across education, health and nutrition, and school readiness. They are made up of mostly private child cares from around California, all gathered in the pursuit of providing the very best care and education to our children. CQEL is member-supported, and they walk the path to quality with their members. The organization provides resources, training, and support, as well as advocates at the local, state, and federal levels for legislation that supports their collective mission.
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