Building an Economy that Works for Everyone

Affordable High-Quality Childcare

High-quality childcare provides a healthy foundation for social well-being, intellectual development, physical health, and economic success. But the poverty-level wages paid in the profession mean teachers aren’t rewarded for their important role, leaving childcare centers unable to recruit and retain qualified staff – and the high cost and limited availability often puts childcare out of reach for working and middle-class families. EOI is working with community allies and stakeholders to expand state investment into early childhood education centers to secure fair compensation and respect for child care workers and to lower the cost of child care for families in our state.

FEATURED PROFILE

Dawn loved her job – but she couldn’t afford to keep it

Dawn Cofone was only 16 years old when she began working with children at Spokane-area childcare facilities. So in the early 90’s, she began attending classes and training sessions to learn more about how to foster the education and development of the children in her care.

She worked hard and went to school, often full-time. But between school tuition and her meager salary, Dawn and her husband were struggling to pay the bills. “At the time I was making roughly seven dollars an hour and barely surviving, with my husband also working full time with any overtime he could get his hands on,” she said. “And this is when my husband came to me and pointed out the obvious. I could make more money and have less stress doing anything else.”

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Research Feed

State of Working Washington
Child Care Costs in Washington are so High, Many Middle-Wage Jobs Won’t Support a Family

Lawmakers need to act now to boost family incomes and make child care more affordable

Early Learning
Saving Child Care and Protecting Children in this Pandemic-Depression

Essential Workers on the Front Line of the COVID-19 Outbreak

Early Learning
Good Teacher Compensation Is the Anchor for High-Quality Early Learning

Pilot funding for salary recommendations of the 2019 Compensation Technical Workgroup

Early Learning
Testimony by John Burbank in favor of HB 1344

Child care providers deserve to be fairly compensated

Blog Feed

Early Learning

August 19, 2022

The Child Care Emotional Roller Coaster

Decades of underfunding has left the child care sector on the brink of collapse

Early Learning

February 11, 2022

Washington’s Child Care Workers Deserve Better—Starting With More Paid Sick Time

As we head into year three of the pandemic, investments in the child care workforce are much-needed and long overdue

Paid Family and Medical Leave

November 19, 2021

Build Back Better Passes the House

We're one step closer to a historic and necessary investment in working families