For immediate release

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Domenica Ghanem, [email protected], 609-457-5663

“Don’t You Dare Cut Our Care:” 650+ Providers to Close their Doors for Community Change Action National Day Without Child Care

Thousands more providers, parents and allies across the country plan to shine a light on the true cost of care and demand investments in a 21st-century childcare system centered on racial and gender justice, with 50 events across 18 states

Nationwide – As the urgency of our childcare crisis grows with providers grossly underpaid, parents unable to find or afford daycare slots, and women forced out of the workforce, Community Change Action’s Childcare Changemakers and partners are coming together for the 2nd annual Day Without Child Care. More than 650 providers so far have pledged to close their doors for the day with support from the community, and thousands more plan to take part in 50 events across 18 states and D.C. 

The day of action will take place with events across the country on Monday, May 8, 2023. On Thursday, May 4, 2023, we held a pre-event virtual press conference with providers, parents, and elected officials who plan to take part in the day of action. You can find a recording of it here.

BriTanya Brown, a Childcare Changemaker with Community Change Action and child care owner-provider in Stamford, Texas said: “House Republicans have passed a bill that would hold our economy hostage with massive spending cuts to the programs we need. According to the Department of Health and Human services, their proposed cuts could mean the loss of an estimated 101,000 childcare slots & over 200,000 Head Start slots – that once again would disproportionately affect Black and brown families. To those elected officials we say: Don’t you dare cut our care.”

Loretta Johnson, a Childcare Changemaker and home-based childcare provider in Austin, Texas said: “Earlier this year, my husband ended up in the hospital with heart and kidney failure. I lost five days of pay because as a provider in Texas, I’m unable to accrue more than a few days of PTO for the entire year. It’s impossible for us to take a vacation or care for a loved one when they get sick. Personally, I’m living paycheck to paycheck and those 5 days meant a lot to me financially. Too often I’m having to choose between taking care of my family or closing my doors.”

Evelan Fountain, a Childcare Changemaker and early childhood educator at Family Circle Academy in Philadelphia, who was in attendance at President Biden’s recent executive order on care signing said: “I’ve worked in childcare for 15 years and in education as an elementary school teacher. As an early educator I often hear, ‘you’re just a babysitter’ or ‘how hard can that job really be?’ But I would invite anyone, especially our elected officials who are choosing not to fund the true cost of care, to come work at a childcare center for just a couple weeks while trying to pay all of your bills. It’s impossible.”

Danielle Walker, a Childcare Changemaker and child care provider at L.O.V.E Your Child’s Care in Indianapolis said: “Living in Indianapolis, working 32 hours each week, I still need two other part time jobs just to be able to live alone and afford rent.I would love to have kids, but I really can’t afford them. I would love to find time to be able to do art, but working three jobs, there’s just not enough time in the day. Providers like me are leaving child care because who wants to work 3 jobs just to do the work they love?”

Nicole Flick, a childcare provider and organizer with ISAIAH in Dilworth, Minnesota said about being on the cusp of winning investments for child care at the state level: “We’re building a movement to see and treat this profession with dignity and respect, with real wages and compensation. We’re at the beginning of our wins and we’ve made it here because of the consistent and unrelenting power building providers and leaders across the base have been doing for a long time.”

Rep. Dave Pinto, Chair of the House Children and Families Committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives said: “The work these folks are doing is not only about allowing parents to work, and our economies to expand, it’s about getting kids off to the great start that they deserve – we know that there’s a payoff for the rest of their lives. The wages for people who do this work – there’s no more important work in society – are abysmally low.”

Dorothy Cooper, a parent and organizer with Parent Voices Oakland in California said about her support for providers closing their doors: “As a parent, you may think I’m worried about the inconvenience. But I’m not – what I’m really worried about is if early education businesses are forced to shut down permanently, because they don’t have the funds they need to stay open. That’s what would majorly disrupt my life.”

Deborah Corely, a childcare provider and member of Child Care Providers United in Kern County, California said: “For 17 years California providers fought for the right to unionize and in the middle of the pandemic our hard work became a reality. California providers now have the right to collectively bargain with  the state. We hope in the future everyone who works in childcare has the same right, because we deserve it. Providers’ resilience, dedication and purpose is the reason why Califonia’s frontline workers were able to continue working and keep our economy on the path of recovery.”

MAY 8 DAY OF ACTION

WHAT: 2023 Day Without Child Care national day of action

WHEN: Monday, May 8, 2023

WHERE: Cities and states across the country, including California, D.C., Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and more. A full list of events and locations will be updated periodically here. Some highlights include:

• Minneapolis, MN – Childcare providers will close their doors early and bring children to the Capitol where parents will meet them for a rally to celebrate transformational child care funding bill expected to pass in the state
• Austin, TX – Childcare providers will close their doors for the day and head to the state Capitol for a press and kid-friendly event. Program will be bilingual in English and Spanish.
• Columbus, Ohio – Childcare providers, organizers, and business owners will host a press conference at the State Capitol to demand ‘Care, Not Cuts’ amid state budget talks
• Philadelphia, PA – Childcare providers will close their doors for the day to rally at City Hall to demand living wages for providers and funding for affordable care
• Indianapolis, IN – Childcare providers will close their doors for the day to hold a press conference and send a “care-a-van” to the Capitol
• Oakland, California – Parents, providers, and CCPU union members will host a press conference and rally to show the day in the life of childcare workers and support Measure C to fund child care and living wages
• Manhattan, New York – Childcare providers and supporters will head to the Governor’s office to rally for more investments for childcare educators
• Washington, DC – SPACEs in Action will do a tour of early learning childcare centers throughout the District to encourage childcare champions to knock out barriers.

WHO: Community Change Action Childcare Changemakers and partners, childcare providers, parents, and national allies

###