Study:
Child care a big industry
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 • BY
SUSAN K. LIVIO • Star-Ledger
Staff
Public preschools and the child care
industry pumped $2.55 billion into the state's economy last
year, according to a study released yesterday that urged
lawmakers and business owners to make services better and
more affordable.
The New Jersey Child Care Economic Impact
Council, comprised of day care providers, advocates and
business and community leaders, produced the first analysis
of the industry in an effort to call attention to its
contributions and needs.
Child care centers, preschools and
after-school programs have created 65,300 full-time jobs,
making it a bigger employer than other major industries in
the state -- including transportation, warehousing and
telecommunications.
"Many people felt that the child care
community was more like baby-sitting services and not really
an industry," said Ana Berdecia, council co-chairwoman. "It
needs to be paid attention to by policymakers throughout the
state."
Families and employers would be better
served by the industry if there were more quality infant and
toddler programs, and better-paid and -qualified
administrators, teachers and providers, the study said. It
noted the average child care worker earned only $16,900 in
2000, below the poverty line for nearly all
families.
The study recommends government and
private industry collaborate to create an agency that could
establish quality standards, provide training for people
working in the field, and identify ways to make services
more accessible and affordable to working
parents.
"The child care industry still faces a
number of challenges in meeting the needs of families,
children and employers in the state," the report said. "If
New Jersey addresses these challenges, it can increase the
bottom line returns for New Jersey employers and public
returns on government investments."
The demand for affordable child care
among working poor families will only rise, given the
federal government's decision to start demanding more
parents on welfare work for their benefits, said Deputy
Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez, who participated
in a forum in Trenton where the council released its
report.
"If the federal government is going to
require more people work, we've got to step up with the
support," Velez said. "This report could not be more
timely."
The welfare program provides day care
services to welfare clients' children. New Jersey currently
has about 378,000 day care slots, of which only 36,000 are
subsidized. At least another 4,800 more openings are needed
to eliminate the waiting list, the study said.
Besides money, the industry also needs
political will and attention, said Cecilia Zalkind,
executive director of the Association for Children of New
Jersey, a family advocacy group. "We need an entity -- an
office of early learning in the governor's policy office --
that says this is a priority issue," Zalkind
said.
The study was paid for by the John S.
Watson Institute for Public Policy at Thomas Edison State
College, the state Department of Human Services, the
Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey and Children's
Futures, a private-public program benefiting preschool-age
children in Trenton.
The study may be found online at
www.tesc.edu/aboutus/watson. The Associated Press
contributed to this story.
© 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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