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Rising labor and insurance costs drove Kayley Spencer’s decision to shut down her childcare center in Duluth last month. She knew something had to change.

“I want to ensure that my center is one of the last to close their doors,” Spencer said. “We've been seeing centers around our state closing at a very concerning rate, and I know firsthand the challenges that providers are facing, and our families can't afford to pay more.”

Spencer thought the necessary change could be found in Childcare for All — a grassroots campaign to make childcare free or low cost for all children from birth to age 5 in Minnesota. 

The campaign calls on the Legislature to fund the effort, arguing that making childcare a public investment will not only significantly lower costs for families, it will also allow providers, like Spencer, to supply livable wages for their staff and equivalent benefits.

“We already are paying for childcare, but we're paying for it in the loss of early intervention,” said Spencer said, who serves as co-captain of the campaign for Minnesota Senate District 8 in Duluth.

A 2003 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that public spending on early childhood delivered an 18 percent return on investment through future savings from lower crime rates, lower education costs, better health and other improved outcomes. Researchers say the findings hold true 23 years later.

In recent years, Minnesota legislators have earmarked some $2 billion to help boost childcare worker wages and ease the financial burden on operators to address the child care crisis.

The Childcare for All effort is working now to build grassroots support by hosting community events and planning lawmaker meetings, said Jessica Whitten, co-captain for the campaign in Senate District 37 in Maple Grove.

“Childcare is an interesting thing because before I had kids, it was something that I really didn't pay much attention to,” said Whitten, parent of a 3-year-old and 4-year-old. 

“As soon as I got pregnant and started sharing that news, people started telling me, "Oh, if you're thinking about childcare, you need to put your name on the list,’” she added. “But nobody talks about the fact that right off the bat you're essentially paying college tuition to send them to childcare.”

Whitten said when she was expecting her second child, she first reached out to the director of her first child’s care center even before telling her family she was pregnant. 

She said having access to childcare was essential for her family, otherwise she or her husband would have to pause their careers. 

Whitten said paying $36,000 a year for her two kids is their biggest household expense. Like many families, she can’t afford to pay more but also understands childcare workers don’t earn enough money and often decide to leave the business.

A survey released earlier this year by Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank and the nonprofit group First Children’s Finance found 

rising numbers of Minnesota childcare providers unsure their businesses are sustainable

. One-third of those responding said they had to stop paying themselves in order to pay the rising costs of food and insurance.

It's just a kind of a lose-lose for families and childcare providers and teachers,” she added. “So the Childcare for All project really originated around this idea of, we have to do better.”

“I supervise people, and it comes up all the time that people have to change their hours or can't do the job anymore and have to leave because they don't have a solution for childcare,” Whitten said. “It's a huge factor. So from an economic standpoint, this is just a big concern I think for the state of Minnesota, and I hope our lawmakers.”

The Childcare for All campaign plans to build through the summer and after the fall elections. Then help bring legislation forward early next year.

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Kyra Miles

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Leaders of Childcare for All, a project of Faith in Minn., say they’re on a mission to build their ranks and press lawmakers for better pay for early childhood educators and more affordable and accessible childcare.

Advocates launch Minnesota campaign for universal free childcare

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