The Kids Are Priority One Coalition has organized a statewide "virtual strike" to show state leaders and residents the importance of funding childcare programs, especially from an economic standpoint.
"Having childcare available is just as important as wages and benefits," Cinda Morse, the executive director of Oak Hill Children's Center in Pownal, said Friday. "It's part of the package that attracts people to a community and allows businesses to hire and maintain employees."
Parents with children in childcare and supporters will be asked to wear buttons from Tuesday to Saturday to inform their employers that their services would not be possible without childcare.
It's meant to tangibly show employers the importance of childcare without shutting down providers statewide, which would have left many families in a bind, Morse said. In Bennington County alone, about 3,000 employees have children in childcare, according to Morse. One thousand buttons will be distributed in the county, 24,000 statewide.
The Kids Are Priority One Coalition is a non-profit in the state that coordinates the efforts of six other non-profits, Mama Says, Parent to Parent of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children, the Vermont Child Care Industry and Careers Council, the Voices for Vermont Children and the Windham Child Care Association.
Morse said the days of "daycare" are no more. Now, parents need quality childcare, or early care and education programs, that they can rely on so their kids get an early start on their education and they can focus solely on their work instead of worrying about their kids. Early care has shown to provide huge benefits later on, she said, including lower corrections' rates and higher achievement.
Affordability is the other big issue, Morse said. Most childcare programs cost about $11,000 to $12,000 per child per year, she said, meaning most Vermont families need help either through subsidies or grants.