This guest blog was written by our UW Public Humanities Fellow, Kate MacCrimmon. She has been at Kids Forward over the past academic year. Kate offers a unique perspective as both a former Family Child Care provider and doctoral candidate researching the subject. This is the first in a two part series connecting provider voices to policy and advocacy. The second part will feature three more providers and will focus on professionalization in the field of Family Child Care.

Introduction to the family child care theme.

My journey as a family child care scholar began when my first child was born. No one told me I needed to plan child care well before a baby is born, and that the cost was far more than what our family could afford. That’s when I decided to open my own child care program because, I thought, how hard could it be? Plus, other in-home providers’ programs cost so much, maybe I too could earn that much income! Once I opened my own program with my own 10-month old baby, reality set in. This was no easy work. There was no lunch break. There was no big money . . . I spent the next eight and a half years learning and perfecting how to run a family child care program, but ultimately decided to close. Family child care in Wisconsin provides the actual providers very little, if anything, despite all our hard work. I found a general lack of respect for me and the demanding work of caring for and educating children of mixed ages. In addition, the state’s increasing pressure on accountability on all providers did not come with any sort of financial or professional recognition.

I needed answers to many questions about my work as a family child care provider, so I entered graduate school in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UW-Madison and wrote a critical self-study of my work for my Master’s degree. Continuing my graduate studies, I spent a year in Denmark studying family child care working with a network of providers who were part of the public system of child care. As of this project with Kids Forward in 2020/2021, I am writing my dissertation on the limitations of current family child care operations in the U.S., and as a result, argues in favor of a model of universal care for the U.S. based on the Danish system. This podcast project has brought these worlds together by interviewing providers and highlighting their unique stories and fortitude that has carried them through the pandemic. As the crisis continues, family child care providers are garnering more recognition, but at this pivotal moment, we need bolder solutions that sustain families, children, and providers. In the following segments, I highlight the strengths and resilience of each provider in our podcast series, to illustrate the real work of family child care.

How Can We Strengthen Wisconsin Families? Support Family Child Care Providers.

Wisconsin’s families depend on child care providers so that they can go to work every day to keep our economy strong. Family child care (FCC) providers care and educate many infants and toddlers, and mixed ages of children and siblings under five years old throughout Wisconsin. Now, with the pandemic, many providers are caring for school-aged children and supporting them through virtual learning as well. Understandably, some parents feel safer keeping their children at home during the pandemic. Therefore, because providers are small independent business owners, they are struggling to survive with lower enrollment. The average wage for a FCC provider is $7.50/hour, yet over half of them have an associate’s degree. Wisconsin has lost over 70% of FCC providers in the last decade because they simply cannot survive on these wages. With the pandemic it has become more challenging. We need to support the wages of this workforce so that they can continue to help the working parents who keep our state strong.

Many Wisconsin parents prefer FCC because it is small, personal, and more affordable than other options. It is more flexible for parents working second and third shifts, and providers are often a trusted part of the community. As one provider, Silke, states, “This is a sanctuary for so many children.” The stories below capture the dedication of providers in Wisconsin. These amazing people care deeply for Wisconsin’s families, and it is time we care back by supplementing their wages.

Fernanda’s Story: “When I let someone into my house, you become my family.”

When I spoke with Fernanda over Zoom, it was the middle of her workday during naptime. She was sitting under the stairs away from the naptime music so we could talk clearly. She had one ear open to listen for a new infant. At one point, her teenage son walked down the stairs above her, making loud creaking noises. This scene perfectly illustrates what family child care is – her home is completely dedicated to her program. Fernanda started providing care in her home while her son was quite young so he’s learned how a family child care program operates, and he often jumps in and helps his mother to soothe a child or lend a hand. Fernanda states proudly, “He has fed every baby a bottle, for the children that I care for. He picks up babies because he is so used to it.” Like many providers, Fernanda has made this her career. She was a teacher in Argentina before moving to the U.S., worked at a center, then finally opened her own program 13 years ago. Fernanda has cared not just for children, but for entire families. She often cares for infants who stay with her until they go to public school, and she talks about the lasting relationships she still has with many of her child care families, keeping cherishing bonds among them. 

Corrine’s Story: “We basically subsidize the industry because parents can’t pay any more than they are. So, we are subsidizing by not taking the wages we should have and deserve.”

Corrine brings immense energy and passion to her work as a family child care provider. Like many providers, she started when she and her close friends were unable to find child care for their infants because they live in a rural area, and thought that she would do this as a short-term solution. However, as she said, “You just fall in love with those kids and those families.” So, over a decade later, Corrine is operating at full capacity in addition to taking school-aged children and helping them with virtual schooling during COVID-19. But what really motivates Corrine is that six years ago she had an infant with Rubinstein tay-bi syndrome. The baby took three hours to take an ounce of formula from a bottle, and she discovered there was no funding or assistance available to help her with this child. She states, “I definitely feel every child deserves an opportunity, and moms and dads shouldn’t have to choose between work, and their child.” Corrine cares about children with special needs and continues to provide care for them, even though this is a role typically done by people with advanced degrees, and paid at a much higher wage. Corrine points out that the average pay for an associate degree in Wisconsin is $18/hour, but the only way to reach that amount for a child care provider, without charging parents rates they cannot afford, is through state support.  

Silke’s Story: “With a four-year degree, it wasn’t paying enough money to be able to stay in it and pay back for schooling. So, she looked for other things.”

Provider Silke shared how her tough childhood drove her desire to provide a better situation for other children. She states, “I think every child deserves a good start and a great carefree start in life.” It was Silke’s sister who introduced her to the idea of opening a family child care program when she moved here from Germany. Since she began with her sister’s mentorship, Silke has stayed in this profession for 27 years. While Silke continued to grow her program, her sister moved on because she needed to make more money and benefits even though she had a four-year degree in early childhood education. Silke has managed to make ends meet, but she knows many providers struggle with low pay and the business aspects of running a small FCC program. Silke is proud to care for children who are subsidized by the state even though it means extra paperwork and efforts to collect copayments from families. She says “It’s not always been easy, but we’ve made it work.” Like so many other providers, she understands the importance of giving all children a “sanctuary,” especially during the pandemic.

Kate MacCrimmon, Mellon Public Humanities Graduate Fellow at Kids Forward