COVID-19 has worsened what advocates call a child care crisis in Connecticut.
Connecticut considers child care an essential service, so most child care centers have stayed open. But advocates and officials say COVID-19 is exhausting a fragile industry in which many centers have closed or laid off workers.
A new report from Connecticut Voices for Children says many child care providers make far below minimum wage, some as little as $6 an hour.
“Childcare is built on the back of low-wage women workers and very often women of color. And these women have been subsidizing businesses and governments and the whole system with their low wages,” says Beth Bye, commissioner of the state’s Office of Early Childhood.
The report recommends the state take short-term measures during the pandemic to help centers stay open and pay their employees more.
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