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In rural areas of America like Allendale, child care is a community necessity in short supply. Even before the pandemic, three in five rural communities had an insufficient number of licensed child care centers (often called “child care deserts”), according to the nonpartisan policy institute Center for American Progress.
Studies show that child care is critical for the early development of children as well as the economic wellbeing of working parents. Without access to affordable child care, families are more likely to stay in poverty. Additionally, child care workers have historically struggled with low wages. In 2020, the Center for American Progress found that child care workers made 15.3% less than K-8 educators.
The cost of child care in the United States is higher than child care costs in other major countries, and each state has a different way of paying for child care. The state of South Carolina has work requirements for child care benefits, meaning that in order to get a voucher for child care, a parent must be working or in school. Since the pandemic, voucher programs for child care passed by the federal government have made child care more accessible.
The People-Sentinel spoke with Trina Badger, the director of Allendale Early Learning Academy, about child care issues that affect parents, her child care center and the Allendale community.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Elijah de Castro: I know that short staffing has been an issue, and child care workers have had a lot of different issues since the pandemic. Can you tell me about that and how things are going?
Trina Badger: When COVID first hit, yes, staffing was an issue. But now everybody’s going back to work, so we pretty much full with staff now. But some parents looking for work can’t receive a voucher to help pay for childcare. We got a lot of parents that are looking for jobs but in order to receive a voucher they have to be working or going to school. But if they out looking for a job and don’t have childcare they can’t find a job because they have the kids. Some of them can’t afford child care; everybody’s income is different. When the dilemma comes in is that [for] a parent that’s been out of work from COVID and now they trying to go back in the job field, but they have they kids at home.
ED: Have different parents told you about that?
TB: Yes. Just as parents come in and try to enroll they kids, I offer them the COVID voucher and then I ask them what they (the state government) gonna ask: are you working or are you going to school? Some of them are not working or they’re not in school, but they are trying to go into the job field to look for jobs, but they have the child at home that’s kind of stopping them from going to look. It’s hard for them to find somebody to keep the child while looking for a job.
ED: It’s almost like they can’t get child care, so they’re forced to not work. I can imagine for you as a child care worker that’s probably pretty frustrating.
TB: It is. I been doing this for 26 years, so every year it’s something different. I hate to see that a lot of young parents are trying to work, they’re trying to get into the job field, but they don’t have the funds or the funds are not available to them because they’re not working. It is frustrating.
ED: What would you like to see from your state legislators? What kind of changes to the childcare system would you like to see?
TB: I just want to help people, help out families. That’s it. Maybe have resources in different counties [so] that parents or young mothers are able to go sit and talk and get the different resources that they need. It doesn’t matter the race, it doesn’t matter the background, it’s just helping a family.
ED: That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about; child care isn’t just taking care of children, it also brings the community together.
TB: It’s a community. With childcare, some people leave early or they get off late and don’t have nobody to keep their kids. You meet the needs of the community to see what they need because if it wasn’t for them, then we [in child care] wouldn’t have a job. So you gotta go out into the community to see what’s needed.
ED: I can imagine that’s stressful, but you’ve worked in this job for 26 years, so you must love this job.
TB: I love it. I love it.
ED: I know another issue that childcare workers are facing in South Carolina, and just generally, is not being paid what they deserve.
TB: We try to pay everybody based upon experience. And we try to start everybody off with a decent amount to live off. When I was 20, I started out making minimum wage. But then I went back to school, and I grew. I tell all the staff here, “just don’t get too comfortable being in that same position all your life.” The more you learn and grow from it, the more money you make. Yes, teachers are underpaid. We are underpaid for what we do, goodness. But with me, it’s not all about the money, it’s just the love I have for the kids and the families. We all underpaid, but you have to love it. You have to love it.
