The child care worker shortage ripples into the economic lives of families with young children who sometimes are unable to go to work if they can\u2019t find child care.<\/p>\n
In Arizona, there are an estimated 420,548 parents in the\u00a0labor force with children under age 6. According to a recent statewide survey from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Arizona Chamber Foundation of 402 households with children age 5 and under who are not in kindergarten:<\/p>\n
- \n
- approximately\u00a06% of parents\u00a0said they voluntarily\u00a0left a job due to child care issues.<\/li>\n
- 34% of respondents reported that they or someone in their household has\u00a0left a job, not taken a job, or greatly changed\u00a0jobs\u00a0because of problems with child care in the last 12 months.<\/li>\n
- 71% of parents reported missing work due to child care issues in the past three months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Absences and employee turnover cost Arizona employers an estimated $1.42 billion per year, according to the same survey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nation does not get how important child care is to the economy overall and how vital child care workers are to that,\u201d said Wendy Wallace from Three Points Child Care. \u201cIf we\u2019re not here to provide services to those families who need it, those families can\u2019t go to work. And they can\u2019t provide in the manner that they want to provide. It\u2019s a cycle. We all depend on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frequently, Wallace gets a phone call from a frantic parent who tells her that if they can\u2019t find a place to care for their child, they\u2019re going to lose their job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to tell them, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, I would really love to help but I don\u2019t have the staff. I can\u2019t help you right now,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n
Three Points is in a rural area of Pima County, about 25 miles southwest of downtown Tucson. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wallace had to close the center for weeks. When she reopened, she found that three staff members would not return.<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cWe have an extremely limited applicant pool,\u201d said Wendy Wallace.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI realized we wouldn\u2019t be able to open all the classrooms, so we have four classrooms instead of six. We\u2019re not able to expand at the moment because we don\u2019t have the staff to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Challenges to finding applicants have always existed. Many child care centers can\u2019t offer health insurance to their employees or paid time off. Notoriously low wages also contribute to the struggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cBottom line, we don\u2019t have the money or resources to pay what we believe they are worth,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n
Another obstacle for rural Arizona is location.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge is that nobody wants to come this way,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cWe have an extremely limited applicant pool.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"sign-spinner](\"https:\/\/www.ftf-stg.magnetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/child-care-shortage-650x341.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt has forced some child care providers to get creative with their recruiting. Word of mouth has become invaluable.<\/p>\n
McGuire said her staff share job openings with the parents of children in their care. \u201cWhen we\u2019re meeting with them one on one, we ask, \u2018Do you know anyone looking for work?\u2019 The parents who have been with us for a long time know the type of person we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura Salter found some success advertising on the employment website, Indeed.com. She is the director of Signal Peak Early Learning Center on the Central Arizona College campus in Coolidge. They also send emails to their early childhood education students advertising their open positions and use social media to post the positions to local Facebook groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrior to COVID, it did take time to find the right staff members, but we always had more than one applicant to look at,\u201d Salter said. \u201cSince the pandemic has hit, the applicants are far and few between. We\u2019ve had three resumes over the past month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Employee retention more critical now<\/strong><\/h2>\n