SACRAMENTO, CA – The 40,000 family child care providers in California represented by Child Care Providers United (CCPU) responded to Governor Newsom’s 2024-25 “May Revision” budget proposal with this statement from Yolanda Thomas, a child care provider in Contra Costa and member of CCPU’s negotiations team:
“As our state faces economic uncertainty, access to quality, affordable child care for California’s working families is more important than ever. We cannot build a stronger economy when our lowest paid workers, including those working irregular hours, don’t have somewhere safe to send their children during their shifts. And the state cannot fix our current budget outlook by making cuts to the safety net or balancing the budget on the backs of working families.
“And that’s why we are disheartened to see a May Revise proposal that cuts access to care in three ways: by placing a freeze on the rollout of promised slots; cutting CalWORKs services that will result in families not being able to receive needed child care subsidies; and lacking a clear plan to implement and meet the state’s promise to ensure providers are paid for the true cost of providing quality care.
“We are grateful for the partnership we’ve had with Governor Newsom and his team since securing our first contract in 2021, which has included critical stopgap measures to stabilize an industry that teetered on the verge of complete collapse for decades. By standing together in our union, providers won COVID protections, a fix to the regressive ‘family fee’ system, health care and retirement benefits, and much more.
“But until the state fully reimburses us for the entire cost of providing care, California will struggle to attract the workforce needed to support working families. We are not asking for anything more than just enough to meet our costs – costs that include ingredients for fresh and healthy meals, educational books and toys, transportation costs for school drop off and pickup, and reliable take-home pay that we can count on.
“Our workforce, made up of a majority Black and Brown women, cannot continue to live on $7-10 an hour if we take home anything at all while being expected to care for and educate California’s children. In the fifth largest economy in the world, poverty wages for our early learning workforce cannot be normalized or accepted.
“Child care providers keep California’s economy running. The state must ensure that provider pay keeps current with rising inflation and immediately transition to and fund the cost of care reimbursement system that the Governor and legislators have committed to in our two contracts. Regardless of the budget outlook, providers can’t pay the bills with the love we have for the children in our care. The state is only deepening our child care crisis by not ensuring we receive fair pay for providing quality child care. California must invest in the care that powers the economy and prepares the next generation of Golden State leaders.
“We look forward to working with legislators and the Governor in the coming weeks to ensure the final budget agreement adopts a clear and prompt plan to meet the state’s promise.”
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Child Care Providers United brings together 40,000 family child care providers across California and is a partnership of SEIU Local 99, SEIU Local 521 and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930.
