Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

Education

California Child Care Providers Can Expect Higher Wages As Union Secures Agreement With State

In this image, a teacher helps a child with something on their tablet.
South Central family child care provider Jackie Jackson is part of the union's negotiations team.
(
Jackie Jackson for LAist
)

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive. 

About 40,000 California family child care providers expect to see higher wages next year through their union’s first collective bargaining agreement.

Child Care Providers United said Friday it reached a deal with state negotiators, pending ratification by members. Providers who care for kids in their home through state subsidy programs voted to unionize last summer after organizing for almost two decades.

“Providers … they really showed their power,” said union chair Max Arias. “They showed their passion. They showed how much they care about children, how much they care about families and the state itself. Through that push, I think we achieved some significant gains and improvements.”

Arias said the contract will increase the rates for providers around the state by at least 15%. It also includes $40 million for professional development and establishes a grievance process to settle any future disputes.

Support for LAist comes from

“Our work is not yet done,” said Los Angeles family child care provider Justine Flores. “We will continue to fight. We will continue to achieve more.”

The agreement caps months of increasingly tense negotiations. Providers marched through San Diego, Los Angeles and as recently as last Thursday, the State Capitol, to demand higher pay.

A third of California’s family child care providers have shut down since 2008, in part because of low wages.

Since the start of the pandemic at least 2,952 family child care homes have shuttered permanently with thousands more closed temporarily, according to numbers provided to LAist by the California Department of Social Services.

So let’s unpack exactly how the raise will work.

California sets the rates child care workers are paid to care for kids through its subsidy programs based on a survey of child care costs across the state.

Right now, providers are paid at the 75th percentile of the 2016 rate. For example, in L.A. County family child care providers get a maximum of $5.80 an hour for each infant who needs full-time monthly care.

Support for LAist comes from

A more recent 2018 survey exists and state law says it's the "intent" of the legislature to reimburse child care providers at the 85th percentile of the most recent survey. That intent hasn’t been the reality for the last three years.

The union’s agreement guarantees providers will be paid according to that newer 2018 survey, but still at the 75th percentile. Since the rates vary by region, the deal also includes an additional $289 million to ensure every provider gets at least that 15% raise starting in January 2022.

The agreement also paves the way to revamp the payment system, a move that some legislators and advocates already support.

“It was a lot of work to get to the beginning of what we hope is a transformation for this industry in the state of California,” Arias said. “We also need to continue to push for increased federal funding.”

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist