Pa. childcare centers are still understaffed. Providers want $55 million from the state for hiring and retention.

When Laura Manion’s oldest son was born in 2022, she couldn’t find childcare. So she brought little Nolan to the office with her, taking calls with him on her lap or in a Pack ‘n Play across the room.

“Most parents who struggle to find childcare aren’t able to take their child to work,” said Manion, president and CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry. “I was lucky.”

This experience motivated Manion to advocate for improvements to Pennsylvania’s childcare system. On Wednesday, she spoke via Zoom at a news conference of chambers of commerce representatives, childcare center directors, and business leaders, who are pressing the commonwealth to pass a budget that includes $55 million for childcare worker recruitment and retention.

Providers say they want to increase worker pay, allowing childcare centers to compete with retailers and other employers, without upping the already-high cost of enrollment for families.

It’s a measure that Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed, but the politically divided legislature has yet to strike a budget deal, blowing past its late June deadline.

Proponents of the childcare investment said the money would help fill at least 3,000 vacant childcare jobs across the state, creating space for 25,000 more children to receive care. Those numbers are based on a September 2024 survey of 1,014 Pennsylvania childcare providers that was conducted by Start Strong PA, which advocates for high-quality early learning.

“This isn’t just a family issue,” said Samantha Chivinski, executive vice president of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce. “This is an economic emergency for our communities and our state.”

» READ MORE: Childcare costs ‘more than a mortgage’ per kid, forcing Philly parents to make tough choices

“Childcare is infrastructure like roads and broadband,” said Manion, who has since found childcare, paying $35,000 a year for two sons under the age of 3. “When childcare fails, businesses fail.”

For years, safe, reliable childcare has become costlier and more scarce. In the Philadelphia region, sending two children to daycare can easily cost more than a family’s monthly rent or mortgage payment.

And that’s if a family can get a spot: “We would have had to have signed up on a wait list before I knew even that I was pregnant,” one local mother told The Inquirer last spring, recounting her experience looking for daycare.

Providers and industry experts say staffing shortages have led to longer waitlists and fewer classes and caused some facilities to close entirely. The crisis was exacerbated by the pandemic and fluctuations in funding.

Childcare workers are among the most in-demand and lowest-paid employees in the state. Last year, they made just over $15 an hour on average, according to Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office, which provides objective economic analysis for residents and policymakers.

» READ MORE: Childcare staff often make less money than retail workers. That’s causing staff shortages and long waitlists at daycares

In early childhood education, “teachers, our most critical workforce, are in poverty wages,” said Nicole Fetherman, executive director for LifeSpan School and Day Care, which serves 800 children in Bucks, Montgomery, and Lehigh Counties. “Our teachers earn less than cashiers at Sheetz or Target, and those jobs require much less specialized skill and have far less responsibility.”

Brie Rice, program specialist at JB’s Bright Beginnings, said her Westmoreland County center could care for 350 children, but has only 120 students. They have had to close multiple rooms, downsize programs, and turn away families.

“There are over 200 students that we could be supporting and learning and growing and preparing for kindergarten if we had more staff available,” Rice said.

As a teacher and parent at CrossPoint Early Learning Center in Dauphin County, Megan Gherrity said she knows both sides of the childcare struggle. As a parent, she feels gratitude for how the facility has shaped her 4- and 6-year-old children and has seen how staff shortages can cause detrimental ripple effects, including missed work shifts. As a teacher, she has struggled with how to make ends meet.

“I didn’t become a teacher to get rich,” she said. “I knew going in that I wasn’t going to. I did it because I love it and I believe in the magic. The way a child’s eyes light up when they learn how to write their name, or when they come to school and smile that big smile at you or give you a big hug.”

“But that magic doesn’t pay my rent,” she said, “nor will it cover everyone’s health insurance.”