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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

About the Authors

Joshua Wisch

Joshua Wisch is executive director of the Holomua Collaborative, a nonprofit organization committed to keeping all local working families in Hawaii by making sure they can afford to stay.

Kerrie Urosevich

Kerrie Urosevich is executive director at Early Childhood Action Strategy and a Commit to Keiki Steering Committee co-chair.


House Bill 1964 seeks to address the workforce shortage crisis in our state.

In Hawaii, there are so many areas that require changes to our public policies and programs to be more closely aligned with our shared values. One of those key areas is caring for our keiki.

We may all agree early child care and education are important priorities, but our support for child care professionals has not reflected this. Fortunately, the tide is beginning to change this legislative session.

We are encouraged that , introduced by the Women’s Legislative Caucus, is advancing in this session. The bill, which would not have been possible without the advocacy of the Hawaii Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance, seeks to address the childcare workforce shortage crisis in our state, and has already been heard and passed by the House Human Services Committee and House Finance Committee with overwhelming support.

Many qualified child care professionals are leaving the child care field altogether because of low wages — averaging $13 to $17 per hour — and lack of benefits. A 2022 study conducted by the RAND Corporation, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii, showed the significant pay gap between a Department of Education teacher and licensed child care lead teacher, even though their education and training may be similar.

If the bill becomes law, Hawaii will join 37 other states that have implemented similar programs that have significantly improved the retention and reduced turnover rates of early childhood caregivers and educators.

The Department of Human Services would be able to provide subsidies and bonuses to help providers with recruitment and retention of child care professionals. This would help stem the exodus of child care professionals from the profession. Extending this same offer to licensed group child care homes would further expand access to child care for more Hawai‘i families.

It’s Getting Worse

This problem in Hawaii has been escalating for some time. According to the Department of Human Services, there has been a steady decline in the number of licensed and registered family child care homes and group child care centers since December 2020. Classrooms and even entire child care centers have closed their doors not for lack of demand, but because they don’t have the qualified child care staff to meet staff-child ratios.

According to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, Hawaii lost 20% of its early childhood care and education workforce between 2018 and 2020, and this decline continued after the pandemic.

Imagine what Hawaii could be: child care professionals would receive a living wage and remain in the job they love. Providers would meet the required staff-child ratios and continue operating. Employers can rest assured their employees can find the quality child care they need, and employees can find work without having to worry about juggling all their responsibilities without help.

Hawaii lost 20% of its early childhood care and education workforce between 2018 and 2020.

This is also critical for our local economy. Local employers have supported this bill because they know their employees need access to quality and affordable child care. They recognize it is difficult for employees to obtain child care and when they do, it is prohibitively expensive.

For many parents, being able to access child care they can afford allows them to continue to work. So, not having access does not support local employers and is stressful for parents.

Most importantly, it is detrimental to Hawaii’s keiki — the reason we are advocating for this so strongly. Most of the brain development in children occur between birth and three years old. Access to early child care and education is critical during this period of their young lives.

Every keiki deserves a great start in life, and early child care and education lays the foundation for their lives and sets their trajectory. We are doing the right thing for them and for our state.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Column lengths should be no more than 800 words and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.org. The opinions and information expressed in Community Voices are solely those of the authors and not Civil Beat.


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About the Authors

Joshua Wisch

Joshua Wisch is executive director of the Holomua Collaborative, a nonprofit organization committed to keeping all local working families in Hawaii by making sure they can afford to stay.

Kerrie Urosevich

Kerrie Urosevich is executive director at Early Childhood Action Strategy and a Commit to Keiki Steering Committee co-chair.


Latest Comments (0)

Affordable child care in Hawaii is crucial for enabling parents to return to work or pursue education, vital for economic recovery and growth. Without it, many are forced to choose between their careers and their children, exacerbating economic inequality and gender disparities. Access to child care can significantly increase workforce participation, filling critical labor shortages and boosting the economy. Moreover, it allows parents, especially those from low-income families, to seek further education, improving their job prospects and breaking cycles of poverty. This not only benefits individual families but also enriches the community by fostering a culture of lifelong learning and setting a positive example for future generations. Addressing the child care crisis is essential for creating a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous society in Hawaii, shifting from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance and opportunity.

HauulaHaole · 10 months ago

If we converted just a tiny fraction of the non profit advocates for child care professionals into actual child care professionals I suspect we'd be in good shape.

justsaying · 10 months ago

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