Pettigrew’s Legislation Will Help Child-Care Workers

OLYMPIA – The average child-care worker isn’t making out like a bandit, that’s for sure. They earn an average of $8.22 an hour. More than 40 percent of them don’t get health insurance through their employer. A third don’t get paid sick leave. And more than 25 percent of child-care workers don’t even get a vacation with pay. “They do society’s most important work, and yet they’re so poorly paid,” said state Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle, who is prime-sponsoring legislation to help strengthen pay for child-care workers. Pettigrew’s legislation (House Bill 1636) would establish a child-care career and wage ladder based on a successful pilot project the state ran a couple years ago. “Relatively low wages and benefits mean we lose many outstanding child-care workers when they leave the profession for jobs where they can make a decent wage to support their own family,” Pettigrew explained. “A lot of people who’d be great at it don’t even go into child-care work for that very reason,” he said. “And the people who are in the field often aren’t able to pursue the professional education and training that would make them even better at their work.” Pettigrew’s measure would base the wage ladder on a child-care worker’s experience, level of responsibility, and education. He explained that the Department of Social and Health Services would set up the career and wage ladder in licensed child-care centers. The centers must dedicate at least 10 percent of their slots to children whose care is subsidized by the state or some type of local-government program. Further, organizations representing child-care teachers and providers would be consulted when the department is determining an allocation formula. The formula would reflect the location and demographic distribution of child-care centers that utilize the ladder. Child-care centers in Seattle would receive at least 15 percent of the funds in the career and wage ladder, according to additional terms of Pettigrew’s legislation. Pettigrew is a member of the House Children & Family Services Committee in which his legislation is awaiting a public hearing.