S2E2: The Childcare Crisis in Nebraska- "We're Ready for Action" w. Claire Wiebe
Nebraska Extension Early Childhood Program Area-Emily Manning, Dr. Holly Hatton, Ingrid Lindal, Erin Kampbell, Linda Reddish, Katie Krause, and LaDonna Werth
Author
09/24/2024
Added
6
Plays
Description
In this episode, we interview the campaign manager, Claire Wiebe, for We Care for Kids to learn about the goals and missives of the campaign. We Care for Kids aims to promote quality early childhood education in Nebraska, and, with over 120 community partners, uses various outreach methods to support families and early childhood educators. The campaign highlights the urgent need for increased state investment to address the childcare crisis, which is exacerbated by high costs and a shortage of quality providers. As a special treat, you will hear from Nebraskans about their perspectives on childcare in the the state and creative solutions to the childcare shortage. The following music was used for this media project: Music: Afterparty Review by Sascha Ende Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/2962-afterparty-review License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license "Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
We Care for Kids- https://nebraskacaresforkids.org/
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:00.620]This is The Good Life in Early Life, a production of Nebraska Extension.
- [00:00:05.460]I'm your host, Emily Manning, an early childhood extension educator.
- [00:00:08.820]In this episode, we are interviewing the We Care for Kids campaign manager, Claire Wiebe,
- [00:00:15.360]and discuss some of the results of the survey that they completed with Nebraska voters.
- [00:00:20.520]We Care for Kids partnered with Nebraska Extension and surveyed 500 Nebraska voters
- [00:00:25.020]about their thoughts on early childhood in the state today.
- [00:00:27.860]I was also able to interview people who attended a large event in southeastern Nebraska
- [00:00:32.520]about their thoughts on the results of the survey or respond to questions directly from the survey itself.
- [00:00:38.000]These interviews will be sprinkled throughout this episode.
- [00:00:40.900]Without further ado, I'm going to introduce our main guest for this episode today, Claire Wiebe.
- [00:00:45.820]Our guest is an advocacy professional with extensive experience in campaigns and organizing.
- [00:00:51.180]She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
- [00:00:54.000]a master's degree in public health from George Washington University,
- [00:00:57.620]currently she is the campaign manager at We Care for Kids,
- [00:01:00.640]where she leads the campaign's efforts to promote quality early childhood education in Nebraska.
- [00:01:05.320]In her role, she is dedicated to driving impactful change through strategic collaboration and communication.
- [00:01:11.100]Welcome to the show, Claire Wiebe. We're so excited to have you.
- [00:01:14.200]Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
- [00:01:16.440]Yeah, so let's start off with a fun question,
- [00:01:18.580]and let's just see, what is your favorite childhood memory or a funny story about you as a child?
- [00:01:24.540]My grandparents, when I was growing up, lived just outside of Colorado,
- [00:01:27.680]Kearney, now they're kind of in the city as the city's grown,
- [00:01:30.600]but they had a good amount of land out there that wasn't farmed or anything,
- [00:01:34.440]it was just kind of free land, and my cousins and my sister and I used to spend our summers
- [00:01:39.380]just kind of exploring and going all over the place out there.
- [00:01:43.280]We also, I think everyone in my family was pretty passionate about nature,
- [00:01:48.200]and we're always finding little animals and wildlife, frogs and stuff out there,
- [00:01:54.180]so one particular memory is finding a crawfish.
- [00:01:58.240]There was a canal that ran through the land,
- [00:02:00.000]and we were like, we've never seen such a thing outside of a zoo.
- [00:02:04.220]So we grabbed it, we took it back to the house,
- [00:02:06.520]and then our parents were like, you cannot have this in the house.
- [00:02:09.700]Take it back.
- [00:02:10.660]So yeah, a lot of my favorite memories as a kid
- [00:02:14.720]are just being out in nature out there,
- [00:02:16.920]exploring, learning about plants and animals,
- [00:02:19.800]and I think that's followed me my whole life too.
- [00:02:22.480]So it's great out there.
- [00:02:23.760]Oh, that's fun. That's neat.
- [00:02:25.240]Yeah, well, lovely.
- [00:02:26.620]So let's dive into your work and what you do.
- [00:02:29.540]So what is We Care for Kids?
- [00:02:31.500]And in a few words, how is this campaign supporting Nebraska
- [00:02:34.840]and having high-quality child care?
- [00:02:37.240]So I work at a campaign called We Care for Kids.
- [00:02:40.340]It's Por Todos Los Niños in Spanish.
- [00:02:42.520]It's a fully bilingual campaign.
- [00:02:44.380]It's a collaborative statewide effort to build support
- [00:02:47.740]for quality early childhood education for all Nebraska families
- [00:02:51.420]and to raise awareness about the important role
- [00:02:53.840]that early childhood educators play
- [00:02:55.840]in making sure that our communities and our kids
- [00:02:59.340]and our families really thrive.
- [00:03:00.740]So we are really lucky.
- [00:03:03.140]We have a little over 120 community partners.
- [00:03:06.700]So these are groups like we have school districts,
- [00:03:09.380]we have small businesses,
- [00:03:10.520]we have community organizations, nonprofits,
- [00:03:14.060]all of these folks who have kind of gotten together to say,
- [00:03:17.940]you know, early childhood education is essential for our community.
- [00:03:21.400]It's essential for me, my family, whatever it may be.
- [00:03:25.060]And we all can kind of work together,
- [00:03:27.420]move in lockstep to ensure that Nebraska families
- [00:03:30.200]really have access to quality early childhood education.
- [00:03:33.620]What's your favorite story of people working around the state?
- [00:03:36.620]I mean, there are so many.
- [00:03:38.120]I think what's so exciting about this space
- [00:03:40.580]is how folks are really leaning into the strengths
- [00:03:43.940]of their particular community to solve these issues, right?
- [00:03:46.900]So, you know, you hear really innovative solutions
- [00:03:50.520]like a child care center being built with a community center.
- [00:03:54.180]And then there's also health care there.
- [00:03:55.560]That's so exciting to me.
- [00:03:57.060]Businesses opening up child care centers
- [00:03:59.940]like on their premises for their employees.
- [00:04:02.020]I've also heard stories about like a school
- [00:04:04.580]opening up a child care for their employees
- [00:04:06.620]so teachers can stay teaching while they have their kids.
- [00:04:10.040]There's so many cool examples.
- [00:04:11.600]And I think so many people in this field
- [00:04:14.920]are just so deeply passionate about what they do
- [00:04:17.580]and so excited about helping kids.
- [00:04:19.820]That spawns so much creativity and exciting action.
- [00:04:23.300]Yeah, well, we love the work that you're doing
- [00:04:25.620]and what the campaign is doing here in Nebraska.
- [00:04:27.620]We think it's very important work.
- [00:04:29.260]I just wanted to ask you, though,
- [00:04:30.600]what is your biggest win with the campaign so far?
- [00:04:33.920]I think the big win comes from some of our survey data.
- [00:04:38.020]And I know we'll be talking about that
- [00:04:39.520]a little bit more in this conversation, too.
- [00:04:41.620]But for the past three years,
- [00:04:43.560]the campaign has done a statewide survey
- [00:04:46.200]in collaboration with Nebraska Extension.
- [00:04:48.740]And we can kind of see from 2022 to 2023
- [00:04:52.640]and now in the next three years,
- [00:04:53.280]in 2024, we have this escalation, right?
- [00:04:56.280]In 2022, we saw people kind of know it's important,
- [00:04:59.180]but things are like, all right, right?
- [00:05:00.880]And then we're seeing folks feeling more and more
- [00:05:03.640]not only excited about the issue,
- [00:05:05.500]but they're also feeling more urgency
- [00:05:07.880]about solving the crisis.
- [00:05:09.520]And this year in our survey results,
- [00:05:12.140]we see people are like,
- [00:05:13.420]okay, I get why it's important.
- [00:05:15.280]I get why it's urgent.
- [00:05:16.380]I get why it's in crisis.
- [00:05:17.660]And we're ready for some action.
- [00:05:19.500]Seeing that escalation, I think,
- [00:05:21.420]really illustrates the impact of the
- [00:05:23.260]campaign and what we can do with
- [00:05:25.200]some really exciting outreach
- [00:05:26.560]tactics.
- [00:05:27.000]Wow, yeah, those are some really
- [00:05:28.900]exciting findings like within your
- [00:05:30.740]first phase of the campaign, like
- [00:05:33.060]you're expanding your reach and you
- [00:05:34.560]have that data to really show that
- [00:05:37.320]people are becoming aware of this
- [00:05:38.780]issue.
- [00:05:39.140]So I'm excited for We Care for Kids
- [00:05:41.200]campaign and where it's going to
- [00:05:42.480]lead next.
- [00:05:42.980]That's fantastic.
- [00:05:43.840]Let's dive into early care and
- [00:05:45.800]education in the state of Nebraska
- [00:05:47.440]and talk about kind of like what is
- [00:05:49.240]the current situation of early care
- [00:05:51.720]and education in Nebraska, if you could
- [00:05:53.160]tell us a little bit about that.
- [00:05:53.240]One word is really hard.
- [00:05:56.020]You know, but I will say, you know,
- [00:05:59.840]we all need early childhood education.
- [00:06:02.700]We all benefit from it, no matter if we
- [00:06:04.960]have kids, if we don't have kids,
- [00:06:06.420]whatever it may be.
- [00:06:07.480]But the word that keeps coming up over
- [00:06:09.460]and over and over and over in
- [00:06:11.000]conversations I've had with community
- [00:06:12.780]members, with families, is that early
- [00:06:15.640]childhood education is in crisis.
- [00:06:17.480]So I would say crisis is the word that
- [00:06:20.100]comes to mind.
- [00:06:21.060]Yeah, I definitely hear that echoing in
- [00:06:23.220]families and educators.
- [00:06:24.620]Do you want to go into more than just
- [00:06:26.980]that one word?
- [00:06:27.860]Yeah, absolutely.
- [00:06:28.960]Since you said it's really hard.
- [00:06:30.160]Yep, I have lots on that.
- [00:06:32.560]So, I mean, we all know quality early
- [00:06:35.660]childhood education, quality early
- [00:06:37.940]childhood care, they're essential for
- [00:06:40.440]our communities.
- [00:06:41.100]So not only does child care allow
- [00:06:43.620]parents to, like, go to work and stay
- [00:06:46.420]at their jobs and take promotions and
- [00:06:48.260]earn more money and support their
- [00:06:49.560]families, it's also so essential for
- [00:06:52.580]that early childhood education.
- [00:06:53.200]So we know age zero to eight is when
- [00:06:57.840]your brain is developing most rapidly.
- [00:06:59.900]And those years are so critical for
- [00:07:02.500]developing long-term social skills,
- [00:07:05.180]emotional skills, and learning skills.
- [00:07:07.500]So you can see, you know, if kids have
- [00:07:09.780]access to early childhood education,
- [00:07:12.020]they're so much more likely to, like,
- [00:07:13.780]go on and be able to read in the fourth
- [00:07:15.600]grade.
- [00:07:15.920]So we know all of that.
- [00:07:17.740]We know why it's so important.
- [00:07:19.180]But unfortunately, it's really in a
- [00:07:21.200]crisis here in Nebraska and across
- [00:07:23.180]the country.
- [00:07:23.700]I think this is not a Nebraska
- [00:07:25.280]specific problem.
- [00:07:26.380]But families really struggle
- [00:07:28.700]to afford child care.
- [00:07:30.400]As I think we all know, it's
- [00:07:32.260]really expensive.
- [00:07:33.280]Our state has actually more
- [00:07:35.540]families than the national
- [00:07:36.700]average.
- [00:07:37.180]We have about three quarters of
- [00:07:39.200]children under the age of six
- [00:07:40.820]living in homes where all their
- [00:07:42.260]available adults work.
- [00:07:43.480]So mom and dad or just mom, just
- [00:07:46.320]dad, whatever your family
- [00:07:47.380]situation may be, all of the
- [00:07:49.420]parents are in the workforce.
- [00:07:50.600]So when everyone's in the workforce
- [00:07:53.160]and child care is really, really
- [00:07:55.380]expensive for families, sometimes
- [00:07:57.740]that means that Nebraskans are
- [00:07:59.620]leaving the workforce or turning
- [00:08:01.260]down opportunities.
- [00:08:02.200]Maybe I can't take a promotion if
- [00:08:04.540]it's going to require me work two
- [00:08:06.320]extra hours a day and now I won't
- [00:08:08.620]have time to go pick up my kid
- [00:08:09.900]from school, you know, whatever it
- [00:08:11.440]may be.
- [00:08:11.920]And then in addition to parents
- [00:08:14.780]struggling to afford child care,
- [00:08:16.460]child care is just a really
- [00:08:17.940]difficult business model to run.
- [00:08:19.700]And child care teachers are
- [00:08:22.000]really bearing
- [00:08:23.140]the brunt of that difficulty.
- [00:08:24.840]They're often earning too little
- [00:08:27.320]to actually meet their basic needs
- [00:08:29.240]and they're starting to leave the
- [00:08:30.740]field.
- [00:08:31.080]And that's really tough when you
- [00:08:32.640]have people who are passionate,
- [00:08:34.040]who have the experience, who have
- [00:08:35.860]all of these things, but they
- [00:08:37.920]can't afford to work in the field
- [00:08:39.780]they want to work at.
- [00:08:40.820]Like you're going to lose quality
- [00:08:42.340]teachers and you're going to lose
- [00:08:43.860]your entire model of
- [00:08:46.380]success for these kids.
- [00:08:47.700]And I think communities here are
- [00:08:50.240]working really hard.
- [00:08:51.200]Like I already mentioned a few
- [00:08:52.700]examples.
- [00:08:53.120]Of folks in community really
- [00:08:55.540]stepping up really you know
- [00:08:57.680]finding solutions that are unique
- [00:08:59.340]to their own situations.
- [00:09:00.980]But we really can't keep doing
- [00:09:03.220]this alone and we can't keep
- [00:09:04.940]relying on this model that's not
- [00:09:06.760]working for families.
- [00:09:07.840]It's not working for providers.
- [00:09:09.340]So we really need some more
- [00:09:11.080]support in our state for this
- [00:09:12.680]system.
- [00:09:13.100]Yeah absolutely.
- [00:09:14.220]You said that we have more
- [00:09:16.100]families than in other parts of
- [00:09:18.420]the nation.
- [00:09:18.840]So is there data on that?
- [00:09:20.800]So in Nebraska I think
- [00:09:23.100]the statistic is 74 percent of
- [00:09:25.380]kids with kids who are under
- [00:09:27.800]six have all available parents
- [00:09:29.100]in the workforce.
- [00:09:30.680]Nationally it's something around
- [00:09:32.860]like 68 I want to say.
- [00:09:34.820]So we actually do outpace that a
- [00:09:37.100]little bit.
- [00:09:37.660]So yeah of course this is an
- [00:09:40.200]issue nationally that we're
- [00:09:41.540]seeing in every single state.
- [00:09:43.000]But in Nebraska in particular
- [00:09:44.800]it's really hitting more
- [00:09:46.860]families and hitting families
- [00:09:48.360]pretty hard.
- [00:09:48.960]Because there are more families
- [00:09:50.260]with both parents that are
- [00:09:51.540]that are working or need to work
- [00:09:53.080]Yeah.
- [00:09:53.600]So then we have a higher
- [00:09:55.540]requirement for how many
- [00:09:57.180]child care facilities we need.
- [00:09:59.480]And so then you were talking
- [00:10:01.260]about early child early
- [00:10:02.840]childhood care providers and
- [00:10:04.360]educators here in the state and
- [00:10:05.820]how it's a difficult business
- [00:10:07.860]model.
- [00:10:08.360]What have you been hearing from
- [00:10:10.340]teachers or what is the data
- [00:10:12.160]been telling you about their
- [00:10:13.760]situation.
- [00:10:14.440]I think again providers are
- [00:10:17.320]really struggling in Nebraska.
- [00:10:18.920]Early childhood education is a
- [00:10:21.360]really specialized career field.
- [00:10:23.480]It's an educator position.
- [00:10:24.700]It is a teacher position.
- [00:10:26.080]It requires so much continued
- [00:10:28.700]training and education and
- [00:10:30.900]energy.
- [00:10:31.560]These very specific skill sets
- [00:10:34.080]and it requires the skill of
- [00:10:36.120]building really strong
- [00:10:37.040]relationships with kids and
- [00:10:38.680]their parents to make sure that
- [00:10:40.000]they're working in
- [00:10:40.740]collaboration with parents to
- [00:10:42.440]create the best situation for
- [00:10:43.800]kids.
- [00:10:44.200]So on top of all of that
- [00:10:46.580]educators are also often small
- [00:10:48.500]business owners and then they're
- [00:10:50.060]also advocating for kids and
- [00:10:51.880]families outside of the
- [00:10:53.040]classroom too often.
- [00:10:54.520]But we're also finding like all
- [00:10:56.960]of this stuff it's such an
- [00:10:58.740]important job it's such an
- [00:11:00.800]important thing for kids to have
- [00:11:02.560]those really strong
- [00:11:03.440]relationships with educators
- [00:11:04.820]and they're doing all of this
- [00:11:06.500]work and then they're just not
- [00:11:08.140]being compensated fairly and
- [00:11:09.860]adequately for the work that
- [00:11:11.300]they're doing.
- [00:11:11.840]I was looking at the numbers
- [00:11:13.420]yesterday and I think I found
- [00:11:15.060]the median wage was something
- [00:11:16.440]like seventeen dollars an hour
- [00:11:17.880]which is barely a living wage.
- [00:11:19.880]It's really really low.
- [00:11:21.780]I think I saw a statistic
- [00:11:23.020]from your own website that
- [00:11:24.740]says like the median annual
- [00:11:26.000]pay for center based teachers
- [00:11:27.260]falls below the poverty line
- [00:11:29.100]for a family of three.
- [00:11:30.380]And so in thinking of like
- [00:11:32.740]who we want caring for our
- [00:11:35.040]children and the expertise
- [00:11:36.580]and like you said really kind
- [00:11:38.920]of technical education that
- [00:11:40.780]we want them to have and then
- [00:11:42.360]their compensation would make
- [00:11:44.080]them fall below the poverty
- [00:11:45.340]line like that.
- [00:11:46.020]That doesn't seem fair to me.
- [00:11:47.680]Yeah exactly.
- [00:11:49.120]And you know when we've talked
- [00:11:51.340]to child care providers
- [00:11:53.000]nearly half of them have said
- [00:11:54.940]I've had staff leave the
- [00:11:56.500]profession just entirely
- [00:11:57.700]because of the low wages.
- [00:11:59.380]And these folks work so hard
- [00:12:02.140]for our kids.
- [00:12:02.920]They deserve to get paid for
- [00:12:05.100]the work that they're doing.
- [00:12:06.120]We are going to take a quick
- [00:12:08.180]break from our interview with
- [00:12:09.960]Claire to hear from a
- [00:12:11.400]Nebraskan about this issue.
- [00:12:13.360]My former daycare I know those
- [00:12:16.020]teachers did not get paid near
- [00:12:17.460]enough and I'm sure that had
- [00:12:18.840]everything to do with their
- [00:12:19.680]retention.
- [00:12:20.120]They also didn't have any
- [00:12:21.300]benefits and so I don't know
- [00:12:22.980]how they did it to be honest.
- [00:12:24.700]The center that we're at now
- [00:12:25.980]they treat them much better.
- [00:12:27.660]Many of them have 20 year 10
- [00:12:30.200]years or so and you can tell
- [00:12:31.940]it's just a completely
- [00:12:32.540]different environment.
- [00:12:33.240]They're respected.
- [00:12:33.960]They're paid better.
- [00:12:34.860]They have better benefits.
- [00:12:36.180]So that really does make such
- [00:12:38.260]a difference for the children
- [00:12:39.260]that are at these centers.
- [00:12:40.960]So yes absolutely we need to
- [00:12:43.280]invest more in our teachers
- [00:12:45.180]provide them good schooling
- [00:12:47.180]better wages benefits.
- [00:12:48.700]I was absolutely appalled to
- [00:12:50.660]hear that many centers don't
- [00:12:52.300]provide benefits.
- [00:12:53.060]For those teachers like I said
- [00:12:54.180]I don't know how people can do
- [00:12:56.020]that at all.
- [00:12:56.800]So that's a big part of the
- [00:12:58.240]problem.
- [00:12:58.640]It would help with the shortage
- [00:13:00.960]of teachers.
- [00:13:01.560]We would be able to hopefully
- [00:13:03.120]open more centers and therefore
- [00:13:04.960]families would have more
- [00:13:06.200]options right now.
- [00:13:06.960]I think families just don't
- [00:13:08.320]have options.
- [00:13:09.160]They're lucky if they can even
- [00:13:10.480]get into a center let alone a
- [00:13:12.020]quality center.
- [00:13:12.900]And if it is a quality center
- [00:13:14.340]it's very very expensive.
- [00:13:16.180]And then so you have to weigh
- [00:13:17.520]the pros and cons.
- [00:13:18.380]Does the mother or father keep
- [00:13:20.280]working or do they stay home
- [00:13:21.860]with the children and you
- [00:13:22.940]take a huge pay cut and you
- [00:13:24.960]know potentially hurt their
- [00:13:25.880]career.
- [00:13:26.120]Like I said I'm actually
- [00:13:27.000]losing money sending my boys
- [00:13:28.420]to daycare but I think it's
- [00:13:29.960]worth it because they're again
- [00:13:31.820]at a very good center and
- [00:13:33.400]learning a lot and I can tell
- [00:13:34.920]it's just a great environment
- [00:13:36.400]for them.
- [00:13:36.980]So thank you so much for your
- [00:13:38.600]time.
- [00:13:38.820]I appreciate this.
- [00:13:39.640]Thank you.
- [00:13:40.140]Thank you.
- [00:13:40.660]And now back to the interview
- [00:13:42.480]from your perspective what can
- [00:13:44.520]be done in Nebraska to address
- [00:13:45.780]some of these critical issues.
- [00:13:46.660]What's really really important
- [00:13:48.760]for folks to know is that we
- [00:13:50.820]don't have to be in this alone
- [00:13:52.280]and there are
- [00:13:52.920]solutions out there.
- [00:13:53.920]It's not something where like
- [00:13:56.740]no one knows what to do and we
- [00:13:58.220]just throw up our hands and say
- [00:13:59.940]I don't know like we're just
- [00:14:02.260]going to live like this right
- [00:14:03.360]there are solutions out there
- [00:14:04.720]both nationally and here in our
- [00:14:06.740]state.
- [00:14:07.140]But I think all of us have a
- [00:14:09.720]role in solving the child care
- [00:14:11.320]crisis and I don't know that our
- [00:14:13.240]leaders always understand how
- [00:14:15.720]it's impacting families and
- [00:14:17.340]businesses and just all of us
- [00:14:19.320]every single day.
- [00:14:20.140]Do you mind if we talk quickly
- [00:14:21.740]about how it is in Nebraska
- [00:14:22.900]impacting families?
- [00:14:23.820]Sorry to divert our path, but I
- [00:14:25.980]was like, well, we should talk
- [00:14:27.140]about that.
- [00:14:27.500]I don't think we have yet.
- [00:14:28.420]Yeah, I think when you talk to
- [00:14:31.200]families, I think wait lists are
- [00:14:33.940]a huge issue.
- [00:14:34.840]I know.
- [00:14:35.600]Yes, they're insane.
- [00:14:36.900]Oh, my God.
- [00:14:38.460]Not everyone gets to plan their
- [00:14:40.220]family like that.
- [00:14:41.280]You know what I mean?
- [00:14:42.260]Yes.
- [00:14:42.620]So, like, knowing there might be
- [00:14:44.080]a two-year wait list, but maybe
- [00:14:45.900]you find out you're expecting
- [00:14:47.560]and you don't have that time.
- [00:14:49.820]Like, I, yeah, I can't imagine.
- [00:14:52.880]Right, yeah.
- [00:14:53.440]Like, I happen to know somebody
- [00:14:55.200]who didn't think that they were
- [00:14:56.940]going to be able to get pregnant
- [00:14:57.980]and then they were and it was
- [00:14:59.880]just this happy, wonderful
- [00:15:00.940]surprise, but then they're like,
- [00:15:02.740]oh, yeah, I need to find care,
- [00:15:05.220]like, right now.
- [00:15:06.400]Yeah.
- [00:15:06.900]So then they immediately started
- [00:15:09.640]looking and then they still
- [00:15:10.820]weren't able to have care I think until the child was about six or seven months old. Oh my gosh. So
- [00:15:16.840]that's that's hard. Yeah especially with a newborn all the care is needed for a newborn and yeah
- [00:15:24.480]yeah it's difficult because of the ratio numbers but anyway so you were saying that our leaders
- [00:15:29.480]really don't understand how families are impacted. For sure so there's wait lists the cost goes up
- [00:15:36.820]and up because we also need to pay people and we also need to deal with things like making sure you
- [00:15:42.180]know we have our insurance and all of that stuff so there is a statistic out there that in the cost
- [00:15:49.180]of child care is starting to outpace the cost of tuition at the University of Nebraska schools
- [00:15:54.100]which is it's just a lot of money I've heard people say you know the biggest raise you'll
- [00:15:59.420]ever get is sending your kid to kindergarten because you're going to save all of that money
- [00:16:03.560]on child care so I think cost is really important.
- [00:16:06.800]It's really an issue I think finding quality knowing what quality looks like for kids in
- [00:16:12.080]the classroom there's so much information out there so that's one thing that campaign
- [00:16:16.620]works to do is like provide folks with okay I can go to this website I can see there's
- [00:16:21.080]a list of resources so I can do some research and figure out what kind of environment I
- [00:16:25.620]want for my kid.
- [00:16:26.620]And also you can go to the child.unl.edu website and we have resources on how to choose quality
- [00:16:32.840]child care based on your own preferences and values so check out that website we do have
- [00:16:36.780]have some resources on that as well yeah so families overall are really struggling with
- [00:16:41.900]this issue I think and then when you don't have reliable child care that can mean you're
- [00:16:46.500]missing work it can mean I don't take a job because the new job offer is full-time and
- [00:16:52.840]I can really only go part-time it could mean I have to leave the workforce completely because
- [00:16:59.340]we don't have child care or the cost is outpacing what I'm earning so I might as well stay home
- [00:17:05.380]and we can figure it out.
- [00:17:06.760]which thinking about how that like limits families economic opportunities is is so important to this
- [00:17:13.720]conversation too. Now we're going to hear directly from a Nebraskan on how this affects them and
- [00:17:19.680]their family. I have two young boys a six-month-old and a four-year-old and I work full-time they both
- [00:17:24.800]go to a wonderful child care center but that wasn't always the case we had to switch and it
- [00:17:30.220]does cost a lot more money actually lose money working full-time and sending them both but it's
- [00:17:35.520]been worth it for us.
- [00:17:36.740]So I love sending them to the center that they go to they learn so much my oldest is even in a
- [00:17:43.740]STEM program and phonics program and definitely ready for kindergarten but like I said it costs
- [00:17:49.260]a lot of money and I know a lot of families can't afford that at all and so every child
- [00:17:55.140]should have that opportunity I don't think there's enough quality centers around it was
- [00:18:00.260]just like the draw somebody had just left otherwise we would have been on a very long
- [00:18:03.860]waiting list and our other like I said earlier our other center.
- [00:18:06.720]Was not all that great so I know what it's like to not feel comfortable leaving your child
- [00:18:11.600]so yes there is a huge need for quality teachers and it makes the biggest difference for our
- [00:18:19.340]children they are our biggest investments they are our future and I think we need to do everything
- [00:18:26.580]we can to make sure that they are safe and they're learning and they're in quality environments
- [00:18:31.660]surrounded by quality teachers so anything we can do as a state to support that is only going
- [00:18:36.700]to benefit us in the future and now back to the interview and also I mean we haven't discussed
- [00:18:41.800]this yet but the amount of care that is available to families and then the need for care is not not
- [00:18:48.840]in alignment so 91% of counties in Nebraska do not have enough places to meet demand and actually
- [00:18:54.240]there's 11 counties that are completely without any licensed care programs so that's quite a few
- [00:18:59.980]counties in Nebraska who don't even have access like to a licensed care program so there are
- [00:19:06.680]who don't even really have options or they're driving like 30 minutes in one direction to get
- [00:19:12.340]care in a different town and then the other parent is driving 30 minutes in the other direction to a
- [00:19:16.900]different town to receive care so that both of their children have care so that they can
- [00:19:21.480]continue working and I even heard stories from last year there was a county where all of the care
- [00:19:28.920]facilities shut down unexpectedly and then the teachers that were teaching at the school the
- [00:19:36.660]had to bring their children to work with them because there was no other option for them at
- [00:19:41.040]that time so I think some of those stories really highlight the crisis situation that there is in
- [00:19:46.760]Nebraska with care not only is it hard it's straining families financially but it's also
- [00:19:52.380]straining for families because of the waitlist and the limited amount availability for care
- [00:19:57.740]here in Nebraska. I think our leaders understand this is a really popular issue statewide so when
- [00:20:05.040]we did our 2024 survey
- [00:20:06.640]we found majorities across it doesn't matter what political party you're affiliated with
- [00:20:12.020]if you're a rural Nebraskan if you live in an urban area or a small town and no matter like
- [00:20:18.500]if you're a parent if you're not a parent if you've had kids long ago if you have little kids
- [00:20:23.440]now vast majorities of Nebraskans that we interviewed for our 2024 survey said this is an
- [00:20:29.600]important issue it's an urgent issue and we want to see some state investment in the issue. So it's not
- [00:20:36.620]partisan issue it's not an unpopular issue it's very popular investment in this is extremely
- [00:20:42.400]popular. I think our leaders often maybe struggle to see the urgency of this moment especially
- [00:20:49.820]looking at post-COVID when we lost a ton of child care centers. I know I think I saw nine centers
- [00:20:56.680]and Lincoln alone have closed this last year. We are starting to see some of that come back
- [00:21:01.980]from centers but it's still this moment where we can really capitalize on
- [00:21:06.600]an issue that's just widely felt, widely popular, and extremely important for kids,
- [00:21:12.760]for our communities, for economic development, whatever your priority may be. It's really a
- [00:21:18.580]win-win and we want to make sure the leaders are understanding that. In this next section,
- [00:21:23.300]we're going to be discussing possible solutions to the child care crisis here in Nebraska.
- [00:21:27.820]And to mix things up, we're going to start with an interview from a Nebraskan and then we'll go
- [00:21:33.160]into our interview with Claire Wiebe. Here's the Nebraskan now.
- [00:21:36.580]So 83% of Nebraskans surveyed earlier this year agree that state legislatures should support
- [00:21:41.960]child care and early learning like they do for K through 12th grade and higher education.
- [00:21:45.940]What's your response to this survey?
- [00:21:48.040]I guess my response would be that I don't fully know what that means. What would it mean for
- [00:21:54.100]early child could care to be supported the same way that K through 12 is? Does that mean
- [00:21:59.400]funding given to, you know, small businesses that focus on early childhood care?
- [00:22:06.740]That's how I would like to see that done. Supporting economic development and jobs for
- [00:22:14.120]people who are already in this work, who've done it for years and years. I've heard from
- [00:22:18.760]a early care provider who was saying that there were some state funded things coming through that
- [00:22:25.280]were putting her out of business. And so I think it's really important that we are supporting
- [00:22:29.420]people who have been doing this work for decades and truly care for our children and our communities.
- [00:22:35.080]Thank you.
- [00:22:36.540]What are some solutions that you think our leaders could maybe explore here in the state
- [00:22:40.640]of Nebraska?
- [00:22:41.120]You know, there's a lot we can do. Investing is going to be the main thing. I think paying
- [00:22:48.240]teachers, making sure that they are getting paid adequately. I think there are supports
- [00:22:53.160]we can do for families as well. There are so many levers we can pull to kind of alleviate
- [00:22:58.580]some of this. And so many folks are working on this issue and have those solutions.
- [00:23:02.880]Our goal as a campaign is just to make sure that we're educating
- [00:23:06.520]the public about why this is so important. And we're educating those folks
- [00:23:11.540]about we can ask for this. Right. That's like our leaders jobs. Like we elected
- [00:23:16.440]them for a reason. So I see our role as as the campaign is really that like
- [00:23:21.380]outreach piece to to the public. So, yeah, kind of reflecting back
- [00:23:26.180]what you've heard from Nebraskans themselves and say, hey, this is actually what many people are
- [00:23:31.420]saying. So you're not alone in thinking these things and wanting these things and then also reminding
- [00:23:36.500]them of their own power. So you're kind of empowering them like, hey, this is things that you can ask for
- [00:23:41.380]from your leaders. And this is and you're not alone in asking for those things.
- [00:23:46.120]Absolutely. We have power as people. We elect these folks. They
- [00:23:51.320]have a role to play in helping our lives get better. Right. So we're not electing them just to
- [00:23:56.460]hang out in Lincoln. Right. So. So let's hear from a Nebraskan on this
- [00:24:01.380]topic. Nebraska currently has a two million dollar state surplus. Would
- [00:24:06.480]you support or oppose investing one hundred ninety million dollars per year over the next
- [00:24:10.840]10 years into existing state programs to help communities increase the number of quality,
- [00:24:15.160]affordable child care and early learning programs and attract and retrain early childhood teachers
- [00:24:19.440]with competitive salaries? Yes, I would support that. I mean, child care is very important,
- [00:24:24.580]obviously, and having teachers and people be able to teach at a competitive wage is
- [00:24:29.120]important for especially in Nebraska, I would say. And why do you say Nebraska, especially?
- [00:24:33.600]I just I have a lot of pride in our state.
- [00:24:36.600]And the kids are the future of this generation in our state. And having them be knowledgeable
- [00:24:40.700]and having a good care system and everything is very important, I would say.
- [00:24:43.820]Awesome. Thank you so much.
- [00:24:45.100]Absolutely.
- [00:24:45.460]So let's go to worst case scenario here. What do you think if the situation continues in
- [00:24:51.920]early childhood care and education continues to go kind of unsupported?
- [00:24:55.740]What do you think is going to happen?
- [00:24:57.120]If we don't support early childhood education in Nebraska, I think we are going to continue to see our labor
- [00:25:06.440]shortage in our state get worse. So in our 2023 survey, we found that parents are leaving the
- [00:25:14.260]workforce or turning down opportunities because they can't find affordable child care. So that's
- [00:25:20.560]obviously bad news for employers who can't retain, can't hire really good staff. It's also bad news
- [00:25:27.000]for our economy. It's bad news for families, economic futures, and Nebraska already is in
- [00:25:32.220]this labor shortage situation, right? So in 2023, there were
- [00:25:36.420]54 available workers for every 100 open jobs in Nebraska.
- [00:25:40.100]Whoa. Yes. Yeah, that is a huge shortage.
- [00:25:43.380]So we're already facing this shortage. Not having access to child care makes that even worse.
- [00:25:49.880]And not only is there an economic impact on our communities, on families, it's also a really
- [00:25:56.880]negative impact on our kids, you know, and that's what's most important, right, is making sure that
- [00:26:01.920]kids have what they need to succeed. So early childhood education supports
- [00:26:06.400]those, like, consistent relationships for kids. It supports early learning, so I can come into
- [00:26:13.520]kindergarten and be prepared and ready to go, and then I can just take that academic success.
- [00:26:18.520]Like, we see kids who have access to early childhood education also are more likely to
- [00:26:24.260]graduate high school. They're more likely to go on to college and continuing education as well.
- [00:26:29.720]And so, you know, not only is it important for our economy, it's important for literally every
- [00:26:36.380]sector. Early childhood education is the motor that keeps the rest of the show going.
- [00:26:41.600]Oh, I like that analogy.
- [00:26:42.340]Not to mix metaphors, but I heard recently early childhood workers are like the essential workers
- [00:26:47.500]for the essential workers. So not only is all of that the case, but it's also the case when kids
- [00:26:53.000]have access to early childhood education, they're more likely to go on and thrive. And that's what
- [00:26:57.700]we really need to say is like the priority here is taking care of those kids.
- [00:27:01.760]So what is one thing that we can do today to support and make
- [00:27:06.360]a positive change in our state of Nebraska for early childhood care and education?
- [00:27:10.480]Again, I would just say our leaders need to be hearing from us on this issue.
- [00:27:14.880]You don't have to know everything about how policy works. You don't have to even have a
- [00:27:20.380]specific ask. Our leaders need to be hearing from us. If you know a state senator, for example,
- [00:27:26.060]and I'm going to run into them at the pool this weekend, I might talk with them about why this
- [00:27:31.640]is so important. You can call them. You can email them. All of that information is available on
- [00:27:36.340]online. We can be on social media. We can be in the media. We can even be having conversations
- [00:27:41.300]with our neighbors, our friends, and families about why this matters so much. Anything else
- [00:27:46.320]you would like to share with our listeners about the campaign and about the work you're doing and
- [00:27:50.820]about the state of early childhood care and education in Nebraska? So the campaign has a
- [00:27:55.740]bunch of materials that are available on our website, which is nebraskacaresforkids.org.
- [00:28:01.320]All of our resources are available both in English and Spanish, so we can reach folks
- [00:28:06.320]in two languages. On our website, you can go and you can find resources for communities. So we have
- [00:28:12.360]fact sheets about how to talk about this issue, what's going on in early childhood education.
- [00:28:17.360]We have resources for families, so we have links out to Nebraska Extension's website about how to
- [00:28:23.000]find quality care. We also have a portal for early childhood educators if they're interested
- [00:28:28.540]in sharing their story about the impact of their work, why it's so important, what we can do to
- [00:28:34.840]support them in our community.
- [00:28:36.300]That is available on our website as well. And then we also send out a monthly newsletter, so
- [00:28:41.480]you can also subscribe to our email list, get that information about what's going on with the
- [00:28:47.300]campaign and in our communities. Well, thanks for sharing those resources on the We Care for Kids
- [00:28:52.180]campaign. And I really encourage our listeners to check those out. And I encourage them to consider
- [00:28:57.520]becoming a partner with the campaign and really joining in the effort for creating solutions for
- [00:29:02.620]early childhood care and education here in our state. Thank you so much for doing this
- [00:29:06.280]segment with me. And thank you so much for your time today on the podcast. Really appreciate you
- [00:29:10.500]sharing your expertise. Thank you so much for being here today, Claire. Yeah, thank you for
- [00:29:14.400]having me. This was really fun. I know that many of you look forward to hearing the young child
- [00:29:19.660]voice at the end. But instead, we are asking to hear your voice. Please have conversations about
- [00:29:26.540]this issue with others around you so that we can make real changes that will help improve the
- [00:29:31.560]quality of care and education for young children, reduce the cost for families,
- [00:29:36.260]and make working in early childhood a sustainable and respected career here in Nebraska. And to help
- [00:29:43.160]you get those conversations started, make sure you share this episode with others who may be
- [00:29:48.160]interested in talking about this topic with you. This has been an episode of The Good Life in Early
- [00:29:54.360]Life, a Nebraska Extension early childhood production with your host, Emily Manning.
- [00:29:58.540]For more information on early childhood, check out our website at child.unl.edu.
- [00:30:03.040]If you like the show, subscribe and tell your friends to listen. The
- [00:30:06.240]show production team is Emily Manning, Dr. Holly Hatton, Aaron Campbell, Ingrid Lindahl,
- [00:30:11.140]Linda Reddish, Kim Welsant, LaDonna Wirth, and Katie Krause.
- [00:30:14.820]See you next time and thanks for listening.
- [00:30:17.180]Bye-bye.
- [00:30:17.880]- Bye.
- [00:30:18.720]you
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="height: 5.62em; max-width: 56.12rem; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;"> <iframe style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;" src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/23057?format=iframe&autoplay=0" title="Audio Player: S2E2: The Childcare Crisis in Nebraska- "We're Ready for Action" w. Claire Wiebe" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div>
Comments
0 Comments