Childcare Provider: Without state or federal intervention, we can only pay "impoverished wages"

(Moorhead, MN) -- Employees of ABC 123 Child Enrichment Center and childcare advocates marched beside busy street ways and on sidewalks Monday evening, with many holding signs sharing a plea for help.

"If we weren't here, they couldn't go to work." said ABC 123 owner Nicole Flick, who was holding a sign labeled 'No childcare = No Economy', "Police Officers, Nurses, Doctors, your essential workers... We are severely understaffed for what we need."

Flick was joined by multiple employees, who cheered for honking horns as cars drove by them on Highway 10. Most in attendance holding signs seeking support for additional funding for the industry, be it from state or federal sources.  

"Minnesota just published a report... they were somewhere in the $500,000 [range] just to fund childcare assistance, and that would be fully funding the childcare assistance program, getting them off the waitlist. To raise wages you are looking at another couple of million. We need a significant chunk of that surplus... The average pay for a person in childcare is $13 - something an hour, which is below the U.S poverty guidelines. "

Minnesota currently has a $9.2 billion dollar projected surplus, and Flick says if even a fraction was invested in the childcare industry, it would yield positive results.

"In that same article they said for every dollar you spend on early childhood education, you reinvest about 13 dollars," said Flick. " 

The article Flick cites says additional funds could provide an even higher return on investment. According to the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota, "investments in early education and intervention programs not only support future learning and development, but also reduce the need for remedial services like Special Education, justice systems, and public work support programs, and can result in societal returns on investment of up to $16 for every $1 spent on prevention and intervention." An additional study from the W.E Upjohn Institute for Employment Research claims "each $1 spent on high-quality ECE, local property values will go up by $13.3." You can find the report by clicking here.

A report done during the Obama administration says programs like CPC and Head Start can see returns as high as $11 per dollar invested. You can find the report by clicking here.