| |
|
Early Care and Education Facts
Availability:
- 65,000 Maine children are cared for out of the home, every day
- 33,000 Maine children should have financial support for child care costs
- Approximately 7% of businesses throughout Maine provide child care benefits while only 1% provide on-site child care
- We are serving only 1/3 of the eligible Head Start Population
Affordability:
- 90% of Mainers stated a need for affordable child care
- Mainers with incomes of about $30,000 were spending about 16% of their income on child care.
- Maine families with two minimum wage incomes spent over 21% of their income on child care.
- Mainers with incomes at or below the poverty line were spending about 29% of their income on child care.
- Yearly costs for Child Care ($4,581) are more than the annual cost for a college education at a public university in Maine ($3,639).
Quality:
- Over 20% of low income working parents in Maine say that at some time in the past year they have had to leave their child in an unsafe situation in order to work
- Quality early education services are critical for children's early brain development
- Maine requires minimal training for people who take care of your children
- Only 2% of Maine child care centers were accredited as of 1997
- Maine child care teachers make less than bus drivers, garbage collectors and bartenders
Long-term impact of early care and education:
- For every $1 spent on home visiting, we see $7.50 in savings (1994)
- For every $1 spent on home visiting, we see $7.16 in savings in reduction of crime alone (1993)
- Home Visiting has been recommended as the most effective means of developing the well-being of children (NCAN)
- Government savings from the provision of child care are over 2 times the cost of child care.
- Reductions in criminal justice cost due to participation in high quality child care will be approximately $10,000. Reductions in necessary educational services will be approximately $6,300.
Reference listed below:
Availability:
- Derived from estimates presented in a 1889 report prepared by the Maine Office of Child Care Coordination
- Derived from estimates for the Federal Census
- From the Maine Development Foundation Business Survey conducted by Market Decisions, Inc. in 1998
- 1997 Community Needs Assessment conducted by ACCESS
Affordability:
- From " A Snapshot of Working Poor Parents" commissioned by the Maine Center for Economic Policy in 1997
- 1998 information for the Resource Development Centers in Maine
- 1998 information for the Resource Development Centers in Maine
- 1998 information for the Resource Development Centers in Maine
- From "Maine: Child Care Challenges" by Gina Adams and Karen Schulman of the Children's Defense Fund, May 1998
Quality:
- From " A Snapshot of Working Poor Parents" commissioned by the Maine Center for Economic Policy in 1997
- Aber, L. National Center for Child Poverty.
- From "Maine: Child Care Challenges" by Gina Adams and Karen Schulman of the Children's Defense Fund, May 1998
- From "Maine: Child Care Challenges" by Gina Adams and Karen Schulman of the Children's Defense Fund, May 1998
- From "Maine: Child Care Challenges" by Gina Adams and Karen Schulman of the Children's Defense Fund, May 1998
Impact of early care and education:
- From "Investing in our children: What we know and don't know about the costs and benefits of early childhood interventions" published by RAND in 1998
- From "Investing in our children: What we know and don't know about the costs and benefits of early childhood interventions" published by RAND in 1998
- Home Visiting has been recommended as the most effective means of developing the well-being of children (NCAN)
- From "Investing in our children: What we know and don't know about the costs and benefits of early childhood interventions" published by RAND in 1998
- From "Investing in our children: What we know and don't know about the costs and benefits of early childhood interventions" published by RAND in 1998
Updated: Sep 4th, 2008 - 15:24:01
|
A Strong and Powerful Voice to Improve the Lives of All Maine's Children, Youth and Families
© 2002 Maine Children's Alliance, 303 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04330
v. (207) 623-1868 f. (207) 626-3302 e. Mainekids@mekids.org
Section 508/Bobby Approved. www.mekids.org
|
|
