The availability of and access to quality child care has reached crisis levels throughout Minnesota, including the Twin Cities. Between 2005 and 2015, the state lost about 30% (over 3,000) of its family-based child care providers—leaving less than one slot for every four preschool-age children in the state. Since July 2016, Minneapolis and Saint Paul had a net loss of 58 family child care providers, representing 14% of the total. Our research shows that this decrease is due in part to systemic factors: low wages, high turnover of staff within programs, and the high cost of running a business combined with a lack of fi nancial supports to offset the costs of earning and maintaining a Parent Aware quality rating. According to the US Department of Labor, the average center-based or family-based child care provider in the United States makes $11 per hour, compared with $26 per hour for the average kindergarten teacher. This translates to child care workers earning more than $30,000 less per year than their counterparts who work with five- and six-year-olds. Moreover, due in part to low wages, the child care fi eld has one of the highest job vacancy rates (5%) in the state and across the country. All of these factors add up to a capacity crisis that affects child care providers, children, families, employers, and entire communities, especially low-income and culturally and linguistical.
