Pittsburgh-area leaders look to secure more resources to address child care crisis
HOMESTEAD, Pa. (KDKA) — Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and local legislators advocated for higher pay for child care workers on Thursday.
They hope to secure more resources to address the child care crisis.
The Learning and Education Chil Development Center in Homestead is full and every child care spot is taken. The challenge is finding and hiring workers. It's not that there aren't openings for workers, as there are plenty. The problem is paying them what they deserve.
"We're averaging $15 an hour in our sector, and that's an average. So imagine, we have educators making far less than that," said Danielle Daye, owner of the Learning & Education Child Development Center.
Daye knows the challenges because she deals with them every day. The average kindergarten teacher makes $69,700 per year, according to Innamorato's office, with the average day care worker making $29,088.
"We know that child care and pre-K teachers are among the lowest-paid positions in our entire workforce," Innamorato said on Thursday.
"The average child care teacher in Pennsylvania earns just $15.15 an hour," Innamorato added.
So, what's the problem? If the government doesn't help by pumping funding into this day care crisis, nothing will change.