Shortage of affordable child care may have wider impact on Texas workforce, experts say

HOUSTON, Texas -- For the past two years, COVID-19 has loomed over families in the Houston area, and it seems that there will be no relief soon for those with young children. There is a shortage of early childhood care in Texas, which may significantly impact the workforce.

"The way we fund K-12 is exactly how we ought to fund before kindergarten. Science shows us that 85% of brain development happens by age three," said Jim Spurlino, member of the national advisory council for the PN3 Policy Impact Center. After 2020, the number of child care providers dropped to 16%. In 2022, Texas' child care workforce is only at 84% of pre-pandemic levels.

"Yeah, it's a deeper-rooted issue than that. We can't have 200 infants around as we can with college students. The ratio has to be lower to care and do a high-quality job," said Kofron."The way our funding system works, it's really on our parents' backs who are paying. If you're a low-income family, you're even more strapped. It's this vicious cycle.

“The way we fund K-12 is exactly how we ought to fund before kindergarten.” … which is code for “we want the feds/states to take over early childhood education, so we can tax more and enrich/empower politicians and indoctrinate kids.”

Looks like we have a catch-22, huh?

Use relatives.

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