Childcare in Louisiana Is Unaffordable for Most Working Parents

NEW ORLEANS – The national Child Care Aware organization released its annual review of child care costs across the country, and confirmed what families in Louisiana already knew: The costs of early care for children aged 0 to 4 years can exceed 27 percent of household incomes for working, single parent families and cost $9000 a year per child for any household. The report was shared by Louisiana Policy Institute for Children.

Melanie Bronfin, director of Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC), is praised in the report for the research her organization has done documenting the scope and cost of the problem in the State of Louisiana … research now being replicated in other states.

The national organization highlights “the groundbreaking report” written by LPIC and called "Losing Ground: How Child Care Impacts Louisiana’s Workforce Productivity" and the state economy that documented the enormous impact of child care issues on Louisiana’s workforce, businesses and the economy.

- Sponsors -

“They found that child care issues resulted in major economic costs to employers and a large, negative economic impact on the state,” Child Care Aware confirmed, noting how other states such as Maryland are now replicating the Louisiana study.

The findings of the Losing Ground report helped propel the Legislature to create an Early Child Care and Education Commission now studying how to pilot cost-effective, quality programs in Louisiana. A recent state auditor’s report found the state’s network of existing does not match best practices in the industry, such as meeting national child-teacher ratios, and is woefully under-evaluated.

“There are no easy fixes to the scope of the problem in our state,” said Bronfin. “In the end, it is about how much we are willing to invest in the development of our youngest citizens.”

- Partner Content -

Sunni LeBeouf

Black History Month Spotlight This Black History Month, Cox Communications is proud to recognize Sunni LeBeouf for her prolific record of professional achievement, civic philanthropy,...

LPIC has routinely drawn attention to the fact that the state invests less than one-half of one percent of our state general funds in early care and education.  

“Ironically, in the national report, while it may look like a child-care program in Louisiana is more affordable than one in Massachusetts, our studies, the state Department of Education and the state auditor have all underscored how that has compromised the quality of care, especially since the average child care worker is paid half of the salary of a Kindergarten teacher  and for the first time in 2019 will be required to even have a high school degree,” said Bronfin.

With the help of LPIC, Louisiana has created School Readiness Tax Credits that not only give eligible families refundable credits, but also provide incentives for childcare providers to improve employee training and center resources. Additionally, the State Department of Education has created a Unified Rating System based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to help parents gain information about a center’s quality and give providers benchmarks for improvement.

- Sponsors -

LPIC has studies two-years’ worth of data gained by CLASS and urged the state to lower teacher-child ratios, expand evidence-based coaching/professional development/teacher education programs, and expand access to infant classrooms, among other recommendations.

“The great news for our focus on evidence-based documentation of real need has encouraged national and state actors to follow our lead and replicate our data in their communities,” said Bronfin. “The sad news is the need is greater than any current source of funds can address, public or private. Yet, this is where learning begins and where we must invest if we are to improve educational outcomes.”

 

Source: Louisiana Policy Institute for Children

Digital Sponsors / Become a Sponsor

Follow the issues, companies and people that matter most to business in New Orleans.

Email Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter