Chicago child care advocates demand pay raises from mayor, citing shuttering day cares

Jasmine Minor Image
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Chicago child care advocates demand pay raises from mayor
Chicago child care advocates, including the Service Employees International Union, are demanding pay raises from Mayor Brandon Johnson.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Child care advocates in Chicago are demanding pay raises from Mayor Brandon Johnson.

They say higher pay will mean more centers can stay open.

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Child care advocates delivered over 1,800 signatures to the mayor's office Wednesday, demanding higher pay for workers.

They say that pay is directly tied to the tens of thousands of children who lack access to licensed care.

"I lost my home to foreclosure after 17 years," child care worker Toni Frazier said.

Child care workers say the industry is losing its employees at an accelerated rate because of lack of pay. They say a teacher at a community-based child care center does very similar work to one in a public school.

"You may have teachers doing, you know, similar, or maybe even the exact same, work as a teacher in Chicago Public Schools, but making 30% to 50% less," said Brynn Seibert, with Service Employees International Union.

SEE ALSO: Americans are spending about 15% of total income on child care, study finds

The group of child care workers and organizations at City Hall said the loss of workforce has led to the closing of several child care centers.

According to the Chicago business licenses database, the number of licensed child care centers in Chicago has decreased by 32%: from more than 800 active licenses at the end of 2020 to just less than 600 active licenses today.

"I was getting pretty sad and disappointed that I couldn't find something nearby," parent Rocio Garcia said.

Garcia said she thought it would be easy to find a day care for her daughter within her community, but found most centers had either shut down or had long waitlists.

"I had to go outside of my own neighborhood: 20 minutes away. That's 20 minutes there and 20 minutes back, 40 minutes every single day, and that's not including traffic," Garcia said.

"Low wages for child care workers also has a huge impact on families' ability to access child care," Seibert said.

They're calling for change now.

ABC7 Chicago did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment from the mayor's office.

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