Arabesca De la Cruz has been caring for children for more than a decade, but keeping the daycare where she works and owns running has been a real challenge.
“This is desperate, the child care industry is facing an unprecedented crisis,” said De la Cruz.
She closed for three months, during the peak of the pandemic and so far has recovered 12 of the 16 children she had.
But not all daycare centers that closed suffered the same fate.
And it is that according to government data, between April 2020 and February 2021, approximately 1,500 child care providers closed in New York.
“I have friends who have not yet been able to open and have even entered a stage of depression.” de la Cruz said.
And although his business managed to survive, the profits it generates barely give him the means to support himself.
According to De la Cruz, this crisis comes long before the pandemic.
The average cost of child care is $12,000 to $15,000 a year, a difficult amount for many parents to afford.
So many nurseries are supported by families who receive subsidies for the care of their children.
Since 2014, the amount that the government grants per child is between 115 and 200 dollars per child per week.
Which he says is not enough to pay his two employees and cover other operating expenses.
“Sometimes I can’t pay myself because it’s not enough.” De la Cruz noted.
Governor Hochul announced in her budget proposal that she would allocate $1.4 billion for child care.
But both the attorney general, Leticia James and activists defending the rights of daycare employees say that this amount is not enough.
They are asking for $500 million to make child care free for all low-income families.
Diana Pérez, vice president of the Women Housing and Economic Development Corporation, says that this amount “satisfies the needs of all children and ensures the opportunity to receive quality services.”
For her part, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office indicated that they are currently continuing to work with the legislature to finalize a budget that serves all New Yorkers.
By law, the state budget must be approved on April 1.
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