A child’s early years are critical to their health, development, education, and future success.

Without the proper foundation of support and care they need in those critical early years, it can have an extremely harmful ripple effect on the rest of their life.

It was with that in mind that 300 parents, early childhood professionals, advocates and community members gathered together in Lansing to be a part of the 2024 Early Childhood Capitol Day last week — a day to urge lawmakers to prioritize early childhood in Michigan.

Throughout the day, state lawmakers heard directly from Michigan families about their concerns with the lack of high-quality, safe, and affordable child care.

Families made it clear that child care can cost up to 30% to 40% of an average Michigan family’s household income — sometimes more than their monthly rent — and that investing more in early care and education needs to be a top priority in the state’s Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget.

Participants also pushed for other changes in early childhood policies that would improve outcomes for families and kids.

Among them, we heard a lot of rallying support for higher compensation for the early childhood workforce, as well as paid family and medical leave.

Since the end of COVID-19 pandemic relief funding, Michigan providers have seen child care subsidy reimbursement rates slashed by 26%. That was a major financial outlet to sustain their businesses — including maintaining their workforce — and the end of that funding is estimated to force up to 1,200 child care businesses across Michigan to close unless lawmakers act now.

Much like the rest of the country, Michigan is in the midst of an early childhood workforce crisis that will not end without state support, and investments absolutely must include ensuring that early childhood professionals can earn a livable wage.

Despite playing an integral part in nurturing, protecting, and guiding babies and kids, child care workers are undervalued and are among the lowest-paid workforces in Michigan, earning a median wage of less than $13 per hour, or $26,960 annually.

By addressing those wage issues, Michigan can help those essential workers stay in the workforce and continue to provide quality care to our state’s youngest residents, which will, in turn, help improve access to child care for families and improve outcomes for children across the state.

In the counties of Alpena, Montmorency, Alcona, and Presque Isle, 60% of children ages birth to 5 have all parents in the labor force, underscoring the urgent need for child care in the region.

Unfortunately, the number of providers in the region has declined steadily in the past decade, with 28% fewer providers than in 2013. The region today has just half the number of family child care homes that were seen 10 years ago. What’s worse is that subsidies aren’t reaching enough people, with less than 7% of income-eligible children in the region receiving subsidized care.

Meanwhile, the cost of care in the region has increased by 13% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

As Michigan families continue to grapple with limited options for child care and the high cost of child care, many advocates are urging the Michigan Legislature to join a chorus of states and the District of Columbia in providing paid family and medical leave for all. A paid leave program is vital to early childhood outcomes as it ensures that parents can maintain their jobs and continue to provide for their families while taking needed time away when welcoming a new child or providing care during a time of serious illness.

Paid family leave after childbirth also leads to many health benefits for infants, including a reduced risk of infant mortality, and mothers who receive paid family leave are less likely to experience symptoms of postpartum depression or report parenting stress.

As in past years, the 2024 Early Childhood Capitol Day put a finger on the pulse of families raising young children in our state today — shining a bright light on how they are faring and how they could be better supported to ensure the brightest outcomes for their kids.

We are thankful for everyone who came out to let their voices be heard and we hope that lawmakers take to heart what they learned and take action to support early childhood in Michigan.

Mariah McClain is communications manager at the Early Childhood Investment Corp. Terrell Couch is program manager at the Early Childhood Investment Corp.-Detroit Policy Initiative. Anne Kuhnen is Kids Count policy director at the Michigan League for Public Policy.