Forward Rhinelander group discusses affordable child care as a workforce issue

The short supply of affordable child care in the Rhinelander area, and its impact on the local workforce, was the focus of discussion when the community advocacy group Forward Rhinelander met at ArtStart on July 11.

Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce CEO and Oneida County Child Care Coalition chair Lauren Sackett led off the discussion by sharing the results of a survey of county employers and employees conducted in April and May.

“Child care is a very prominent issue in Oneida County,” she said, noting that as of May, there were 16 regulated child care programs in Oneida County serving children from birth to five years old.

“They had a collective capacity of 390 kids, however our census data shows that we have approximately 1,100 to 1,200 kids who are within that birth to five category,” she continued. “So we know we have a child care gap of around 800 children.”

Sackett noted that some of those  children are cared for through the School District of Rhinelander’s full-day 4K program but that’s not a regulated child care program. 

“We see that our gap is quite high,” she noted. “Thirty-three percent of our county is considered to be a child care desert.”

The survey results also showed that local parents are concerned about access to care at irregular times, such as when school is canceled, as well during the summer months, she added.

Equally concerning, Sackett reported, is the number of local adults who are not part of the full-time workforce outside of the home because they have to care for their children.

“Two out of 10 of our respondents, our employees, reported they have a partner or a spouse, one person out of their household, that does not work, or works less than full-time, to care for children,” she said.

“That 20 percent is our workforce that we might be needing right now to fill the jobs that we have open,” she added.

Sackett also shared data on the wages paid to child care workers.

“The median hourly wage is $11 to $13 an hour for center-based care and if it’s an in-home family-run facility you’re likely working longer hours so when you break down your revenue, your rate of pay comes to $7.46 so certainly below average.”

There’s also serious concern for the future, Sackett added, noting that the data shows 51 percent of child care operators are planning to leave the field within the next five years.

“So our child care problem, unless we do something about it, is only going to get worse,” she concluded.

“This is a workforce issue and it needs to be framed like that,” noted Tom Wartman, interim director of the Grow North Economic Development Corporation.

He also stressed the importance of ensuring child care centers are staffed by qualified individuals who feel called to serve in this capacity. After all, he noted, they are caring for the community’s next generation. 

The discussion also included firsthand reports from some of the members discussing the challenges their families are facing when it comes to finding affordable child care.

For more information on the Oneida County Child Care Coalition, visit the group’s Facebook page. 

The next bimonthly meeting of Forward Rhinelander is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at ArtStart.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].