The response to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, has shuttered businesses across the country. Child care providers are no exception. A recent survey from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that 60 percent of licensed providers have already closed and many of those that have remained open have reduced spaces or hours. Troublingly, these closures may not be temporary. A recent survey of child care centers and homes, conducted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), found that just 11 percent of providers could survive a closure of an indeterminate length of time without government support—and only 27 percent could survive a closure of a month. As physical distancing measures are likely to remain necessary well into the summer, the United States is at risk of losing a large portion of its child care providers, further burdening a system that was already underresourced. To prevent decimation of the child care industry—which enables millions of Americans to work—the federal government must provide immediate resources to child care providers, so that they can pay themselves and/or their employees as well as their rent, mortgage, utilities, and other fixed costs. Continue reading “Coronavirus Pandemic Could Lead to Permanent Loss of Nearly 4.5 Million Child Care Slots”
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