The average annual wages for child care workers in the Houston-The Woodlands- Sugar Land metropolitan areas has increased by 33.6% in the last decade. METRO CHILD CARE WAGES
Of 709 jobs in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area that received annual wages, child care workers had the ninth-lowest average annual wage in May 2021. METRO OCCUPATION WAGES
$25,000
$20,000
$15,000
+33.6% from 2010-21
$10,000
$0
Occupations
SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICSCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
demand for the industry, something’s really, really wrong,” Xu said. “On one end, we have parents complaining cost is too high; on the other end, we have workers complaining pay is too low. So somewhere it’s not adding up.” Highcosts for parents As of October 2020, the average cost of infant care in Texas was $777 per month, or $9,324 annually—7.8% more expensive than annual in-state tuition for a four-year public college in Texas, according to the Economic Policy Insti- tute. Meanwhile, the average cost of child care for a 4-year-old is $589 per month and $7,062 per year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index cost for child care rose 5.1% from January 2020 to February 2022. Stephanie Fowler said she and her husband pay between an estimated $1,200-$1,300 per month so their 2-year-old can attend preschool in Kingwood. The family also has an infant and a 6-year-old in rst grade, who are watched by a nanny when their parents are working.
decreased enrollment from 180 stu- dents daily to 30, franchise owner Brandi Muse said. While the school did not have to let any sta go during this time, Muse said, ination forced the school to increase tuition. “We did have to take a slight increase in our tuition,” Muse said. “Prices for food, paper goods, fuel, shipping, monthly school supply orders, etc. have all increased due to the pan- demic. There is a labor shortage in many industries, including child care, that has resulted in higher payrolls for the schools.” At the Lamb of God Church’s pre- school in Humble, enrollment dropped from 175 students to 70, according to Preschool Director Sondra Johnson. “We had to increase pricing to meet expenses and budget due to ination,” Johnson said. “Which was not a huge increase because we can’t aord to lose families at this time, and we know sit- uations are tough for families as well.” As much as 60%-65% of a day care’s income is usually used to pay employ- ees, Kofran said. “When you’re taking care of little
“It’s an important cost,” she said. “There are less expensive options in the area, but it’s hard. You’re leaving your kids with somebody for eight to 12 hours a day, so you really want to make sure that you found a place … that’s going to sort of raise them the way that you would while you’re not there.” Pandemic issues While parents are spending more on child care than they were two years ago, child care centers are facing higher costs and other industry issues related to the ongoing pandemic. Some day care centers were forced to permanently close due to nancial hardships induced by the pandemic, exacerbating child care deserts— ZIP codes with fewer than 36 child care seats per 100 children of working parents, according to Children at Risk. While most ZIP codes in the Lake Houston area meet CAR’s standards, 77365 falls below with 15-25 seats for every 100 children as of February. For Primrose School at Summer- wood, the initial wave of the pandemic
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Yet as of October 2020, the typical Texas family was paying 15.7% of its income for infant care for one child, according to the Economic Policy Institute. By the 7% standard, 15.8% of Texas families could aord infant care. However, the cost of child care was rising even before the pan- demic, according to Kim Kofron, the director of early childhood edu- cation with Texas-based nonpro t Children at Risk. Kingwood resident Stephanie Fowler and her husband, Drew Fowler, are both working parents with three young children. “We actually pay more in child care than we do for our mortgage and stu- dent loans,” Stephanie Fowler said. Meanwhile, many child care work- ers are not receiving high enough wages, and day cares are also see- ing increased costs of supplies due to ination, according to Shuang Xu, an economics professor at Lone Star College-Kingwood. “If you really look at the supply and
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