Fleming, Policy Committee highlight childcare crisis
Lawmakers discuss solutions to childcare staffing shortages
Rep. Justin Fleming February 21, 2025 | 1:14 PM
HARRISBURG, Feb. 21 – Affordable childcare is no longer an option or even available for many Pennsylvania families and residents because of staffing shortages and a lack of support.
“Childcare has overwhelming positive benefits, including preparing children to learn in a school setting as well as shaping expectations for behavior and interactions with adults and other children,” said state Rep. Justin Fleming, who represents portions of Dauphin County. “It’s nearly impossible for parents and guardians to make a living without childcare, so it’s important for the state to explore solutions to the childcare staffing crisis.”
Despite recent work by House Democrats and the governor’s office, including tripling the child and dependent tax cut and other measures, experts detailed how decades of inaction by the General Assembly created a childcare crisis. Fleming hosted Friday’s House Majority Policy Committee hearing, exploring potential solutions to staffing shortages. A recording of Friday’s hearing can be found here.
Pennsylvania’s childcare workforce dropped by 40% from 2019-23. Childcare workforce earnings fail to meet the cost-of-living standard in each of the state’s 67 counties, with the average wage earned being $15.15 per hour. Experts detailed the need to prioritize high quality childcare, including strengthening and sustaining the childcare workforce. Those needs included raising working wages and helping offset raising operational costs.
Friday’s House Majority Policy hearing featured testimony from Lisa Whitworth, the director at Little Learners’ Child Development Center; Mariel Campbell, an administrator at Mikayla’s Place Child Development Academy; and Jen DeBell, the executive director at the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children.
Testifiers noted a growing need for greater support following the pandemic, as well as the difficulty in retaining and recruiting staff – since many childcare workers can find higher starting wages by pursuing careers in other fields, including unskilled labor. Voters have embraced funding childcare workforce needs, DeBell testified, and noted other states have paved the way and created a model for improving childcare.
Information about this hearing and other House Majority Policy Committee hearings can be found at pahouse.com/policy. Photos to be used for publication can be found at pahouse.com/PolicyCommittee/Galleries.