Families say quality, affordable child care is difficult to find

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(Host) Families say it’s difficult to find quality, affordable child care. And business leaders say that hurts the state’s economy.

Two-thirds of the state’s young children spend at least part of the week in care outside the home. It typically costs parents between 100 and 150 dollars a week per child.

Melissa Riegel-Garrett of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children says that often consumes a large portion of a family’s budget.

She says the cost forces too many families to choose care based on price rather than quality

Riegel-Garrett says that ends up hurting the state’s economy.

(Riegel-Garrett) “This is really more than an individual family issue. This is a work force issue in the state of Vermont. It’s an issue for businesses as well as for the folks that are employees. And if you’re a co-worker, folks that struggle to pay their child care or have issue with reliable child care are also struggle to be reliable workers and reliable members of the work force.”

(Host) Green Mountain Power executive Mary Powell is co-chair of the Building Bright Futures Council – which was appointed by the governor to advise him on child care issues.

She says investing in child care can now can reduce what the state has to spend in the future on other programs, including prisons, education and social services.

(Powell) “I think one of the challenges is that it is truly one of those longer-term investments.  And that is a leap that it’s sometimes hard for our society – that works very much in a sort of nanosecond atmosphere – to make.”

(Host) This year, the Legislature increased the amount it spends to help families pay for child care by 850-thousand dollars.

But advocates say that hasn’t kept up with rising costs and another 18 million dollars is needed to catch up.

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