Day care costs for Minnesota parents among the highest in nation

Aug. 11--Michelle Favela looked over the room full of long-term investments, disguised as adorable 4-year-olds.

"I like this. I feel like I am making a difference," said Favela, an aide at the New Horizons Academy in Eagan. "They are going to have a good future."

Every one of the 17 children in her classroom last month represented a fast-rising cost for families. Tuition at Minnesota day care centers has reached an average of $16,000 for infants -- the fourth-highest in the nation. That's the average per year for an infant. It's less as the child gets older.

HIGH COST, HIGH QUALITY

Child advocates say the high cost is a sign that the quality, too, is exceptional.

"We have the nation's children in our hands. Somehow, the value of a child has to be recognized," said Ann Edgerton, director of the University of Minnesota Child Development Center.

Minnesota should be proud of its day care system, said New Horizons CEO Chad Dunkley. He links superb day care to Minnesota's best-in-the-nation test scores of high-schoolers.

Yet he admitted that the cost can be crushing for parents. It's more than tuition at the University of Minnesota, more than average rent, more than the entire income of poverty-level parents.

"This is a hot topic, and a real dilemma for us," said Judy Ohm, director of early childhood development at the Wilder Child Development Center in St. Paul.

REGULATIONS

A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute examined day care centers -- not home-based day care. The average annual cost for a Minnesota infant was $16,087, and $12,252 for a 4-year-old.

Only California, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., charge more. Minnesota's costs are 28 percent higher than Wisconsin's, and 55 percent higher than Iowa's.

The blame for the costs -- and the credit for the quality -- lies with regulations.

Labor accounts for 70 percent of day care costs, and regulations control labor.

Minnesota requires the equivalent of two years in college to be a day care teacher. "Other states require that you are 18, you are breathing and you pass a background check," said CEO Dunkley.

Aides, who have less education than teachers, also work in Minnesota day care centers.

Centers take pride in their workers. "We hire people who model the best practices. That skews up the prices quite a bit," said the U's Edgerton.

Teachers are paid more, and there are more of them -- the ratio in Minnesota is one teacher to four infants.

In Mississippi, said Dunkley, it's nine.

OTHER FACTORS BOOST COST

CEO Dunkley operates New Horizons in Minnesota, Iowa, Idaho and Colorado, and studies regulations of other states. He warned against easing regulations to save money.

"We do not want to lower the quality. Mississippi kids are not doing very well," he said.

In addition, other factors boost the cost of day care.

"We want small classroom sizes, low teacher-to-child ratios, and want it open 10 or 12 hours a day," said Ann McCully, director of the nonprofit Child Care Aware, which helps parents and day care providers.

"It adds up fast."

Construction costs, too, are high in Minnesota. Dunkley said building a New Horizons facility in Iowa costs 25 percent less than in Minnesota. Wages are about 25 percent lower in Iowa, he said.

Advocates are pushing for even higher standards -- which would bring higher costs and higher quality.

"This field is trying to become more professional," said Edgerton. "The public is demanding more high quality care. That requires more teachers with master's degrees, and more licensed teachers. The public wants more."

'I FEEL BADLY FOR SINGLE MOMS'

But is the public also asking for child care it can afford?

A single poverty-level mom with a single child couldn't cover the costs of day care with her entire income. Middle-class parents are often stunned when their infant's day care costs more than their 18-year-old's college tuition.

"I feel badly for single moms. I know it's very hard," said Edgerton.

That's why day care advocates lobby for subsidies for parents.

"We should not do this on the backs of parents or the pockets of providers," said Child Care Aware's McCully. "We need to invest in the system."

Good day care is in the national interest, said Edgerton. "The nation needs to make a decision, the way Europe has," she said.

And so is affordable day care.

IMPACT ON BIRTH RATES

Dunkley pointed out a New York Times story in which expensive day care was cited as the No. 1 reason why young adults did not have children. It's one reason why the birth rate in the U.S. has fallen for four consecutive years.

At the New Horizon in Eagan, Selvini Rajanayagam took a break from teaching her class of 4-year-olds.

The comparison with college tuition isn't hypothetical to her -- her son is a sophomore at the U. Tuition for the 2018-19 school year was $14,760 -- so she pays less for his tuition than parents pay for the children in her class.

And it's worth every penny, she said.

She admitted that her extensive training -- a bachelor's degree and 21 years of experience -- contributes to the cost of day care. But during the next hour, as she worked with the kids, the quality was obvious.

She and aide Favela read books to the kids, practiced their numbers, played games, sang and danced, all in a classroom with no screens for TV, computers or phones.

She said the children -- and everyone else -- benefit when kids are carefully nurtured.

"I don't think we will ever regret it," said Rajanayagam. "It's a good investment."

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