华盛顿州父母努力兼顾工作、育儿和家庭财务

Parents of young children across Washington struggle to find and afford high-quality, licensed child care. Some areas of the state have experienced significant reductions in licensed child care capacity, while other areas grapple with child care costs that consume large portions of the median income. All areas contend with child care costs that often exceed the cost of college tuition and a state subsidy system that reimburses providers at rates that don’t cover the costs of providing high-quality care, leaving many low-income parents with few, if any, options.

Of Washington’s 39 counties, Whitman, Okanogan and Whatcom counties have the most expensive child care for an infant and a preschooler in a child care center, relative to median household incomes.¹ This means that in those three counties the cost of child care for an infant and a preschooler in a child care center consumes between 39.5 – 51.9 percent of median incomes. The average cost of child care statewide for an infant and a preschooler in a center consumes 34 percent of the state median income.

Whatcom, Okanogan and Skagit counties have the most expensive child care for an infant and a preschooler in a licensed family child care home (FCC), relative to median household incomes. In those counties caring for both children consumes between 34.4 – 36.8 percent of median household incomes. Statewide the average cost of care for both children in a FCC program consumes 27 percent of the median income.

“At Child Care Aware of Washington we are working every day across the state to both increase access to child care and to help providers improve the quality of their care,” said Elizabeth Swanson, Interim Executive Director at Child Care Aware of Washington. “Clearly more investment is needed at the state and federal levels, and from the business community, all of whom directly benefit from the child care system every day when working parents show up for work on time and ready to be productive.”

The most affordable counties for child care in a center for an infant and a preschooler as a percentage of median household income are Kitsap, Mason and Island counties, where the cost of care for both children consumes between 30 – 30.7 percent of median incomes. For FCC programs, the least expensive counties are Clark, Kitsap and Thurston counties, where the costs of caring for both children consume between 23.6 and 25.3 percent of median household incomes.

Overall, the cost of child care compared to family income has risen during the past six years. Since 2011, median household income has increased 18 percent, while median child care rates have increased between 19-22 percent for center-based care and 14-22 percent for family child care.²

该州的一些地区，尤其是西澳大利亚州中部和奥林匹克半岛地区，儿童保育能力有所下降。在过去六年中，杰斐逊县的容量减少了 28%，而克拉勒姆县则减少了 17%。不过，一些县的托儿所容量最近有所增加，其中包括金县和刘易斯县。

尽管最近一些县的托儿能力有所提高，但总体而言，家庭托儿计划普遍减少。这降低了正常工作日以外的托儿服务能力，而托儿服务对医疗保健、公共安全、旅游、零售和酒店等多个职业领域至关重要。晚间、周末和通宵护理占总体容量的比例从 2012 年的 13% 下降到 2018 年的仅 10%^。

与此同时，州政府支付给接受其家庭使用 “工作联系 “托儿补贴的儿童的托儿所的补偿率却没有跟上。尽管政府最近进行了投资，但提供优质托儿服务的成本仍然超出了托儿机构为我们最弱势的儿童和家庭提供托儿服务所获得的补偿。因此，许多托儿所每次只接受几个孩子的补贴，或者根本不接受。这进一步限制了低收入家庭获得高质量托儿服务的机会。在 4 月²⁸ 日通过的预算中，立法机构确实提高了医疗服务提供者的报销比例，但还不足以完全支付优质医疗服务的成本。

在几乎所有类型的托儿所中，华盛顿州名列前十名，是所有 0-5 岁儿童以及学龄儿童暑期托儿费用最负担不起的州^。

ReadyNation 今年 1 月发布的一份报告计算出，美国儿童保育危机每年造成的收入、收益和生产力损失高达 570 亿美元。⁴美国企业每年因员工没有足够可靠的托儿服务而缺勤造成的损失约为 44 亿美元。³由于失业率处于历史最低水平，雇主们越来越多地使用少于所需人数的员工。提供更多高质量、可负担得起的儿童保育服务将使更多的父母能够加入并留在劳动力队伍中。

要解决华盛顿州的儿童保育危机，就必须增加对儿童保育和早期学习计划的公共、商业和慈善投资。华盛顿州儿童保育意识组织倡导增加公共和私人投资，增加获得高质量保育服务的机会。我们与托儿机构合作提高托儿质量，并通过我们的在线共享业务服务门户网站Washington Child Care Business Edge 帮助托儿机构在其计划的业务方面节省时间和金钱。

华盛顿州儿童保育意识组织（Child Care Aware of Washington）跟踪全州和各县的儿童保育供求和成本情况。我们的数据报告可在此处获取：https://staging.childcareawarewa.org/advocacy/#layout-accordion-1。

华盛顿州儿童保育意识组织是一个非营利性的 501 (c) (3) 组织，致力于将家庭与当地高质量的持证儿童保育和早期学习计划联系起来，并为提供高质量保育服务的提供者提供支持。作为一个由六个地区机构组成的全州网络，我们与托儿机构并肩工作，提供专业发展服务和高等教育奖学金，帮助托儿机构整合以研究为基础的教育、

将最佳做法纳入其计划。我们致力于确保华盛顿州的每一名儿童都能获得平等的教育、

无论其种族、宗教、性别、民族、文化、主要语言或经济状况如何，他们都能获得在学业和生活中取得成功所需的优质保育和早期教育。如需了解更多信息，请访问我们的网站http://wa.childcareaware.org，并在 Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Child-Care-Aware-of-Washington-149636987661/和 Twitter @childcarewa 上关注我们。