COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dozens of child care providers, parents and community members rallied at the Ohio Statehouse on Monday afternoon, demanding fair wages and affordable child care in Ohio.
According to the Children’s Defense Fund, the average price in Ohio for center-based care is over $11,000 per year. The rally was calling on state lawmakers to help ease the problem.
What You Need To Know
- Child care advocates rallied to support affordable child care and increased wages to providers on Monday afternoon
- A single-mom said the high prices make it difficult to afford rent
- Child care providers across the state also joined the movement, calling for increased wages
“I can’t afford it because housing went up you got to have $2,000 is to get a decent place with an updated with a basement,” said Andrea Ellis, a single-mom who lives in Columbus.
“There’s a massive difference between private child care and publicly funded child care,” said Kim Jarvis, a child care provider from Dayton, Ohio. “And we’re trying to close that gap so everybody has access to affordable child care. The sad thing about it is Black and brown citizens are impacted the most.”
Jarvis says without child care, families will have a harder time operating across the state. According to Policy Matters, child care workers in Ohio dropped by more than a third from 2017 to 2022. Jarvis said the statistic to her is alarming.
“That means we increasing the requirements for being able to afford childcare,” Jarvis said. “These are the things we’re asking for the day after for us to become like other states. But, Ohio is one of the lowest states in how this behind this these efforts."