The average child care educator in New Hampshire earns just $32,000 per year, but raising wages directly impacts the tuition costs for the families accessing care, which already average more than $28,000 per year for a family with an infant and a four-year-old. This means an early childhood educator with two young children spends almost their entire salary on their own child care costs. For most in this situation, leaving the early childhood workforce makes more financial sense.
SB 404 is a proactive approach to addressing the child care workforce crisis.
About the Bill
SB 404 addresses the staffing shortage by providing early childhood educators with access to the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship, regardless of household income. This would mean that early childhood educators who work more than 25 hours per week would automatically qualify for the maximum child care scholarship benefit according to the most current market rate survey for family size, child age, type of program, and service level.
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Bill Status
The Senate passed an amended version of the bill that would provide no guarantee that the program would ever be implemented. The House passed the bill as amended by the House Finance Committee, which is a workable amendment that New Futures supports.
Since the bill was amended by the House, it was sent back to the Senate for review. The Senate voted to concur with the House amendment to SB 404, advancing it to the Governor's desk. On August 2, the Governor signed SB 404 into law!
The Impact
The child care workforce crisis is impacting families across the Granite State. Hear from parents, advocates, business leaders, child care workers, and more about the impact of this crisis.
