Mamdani’s childcare plan faces a hurdle: Home providers can’t earn a living
Andrea Peña tries not to think about how little she earns at the childcare business she runs out of her Bronx home.
“If I go through my math, I will get depressed,” said Peña, 50.
Her program is typically fully enrolled. Still, her bills stack up quickly — mortgage, utilities, insurance, payroll. By the end of the month, she doesn’t even earn minimum wage.
A review of Peña’s largest monthly expenses shows she’s making about $9.50 an hour, or $500 a week. That’s counting only the 50 hours her program is open during the week, and doesn’t factor in her weekend runs to BJs to buy food, nighttime meal prep, evening clean-up and the administrative work that piles up during the week.
“Going through my budget, it’s like my stomach aches. It hurts, because I'm not making any money,” she said. “ I love my business. I love to work with kids, and I love to be part of that first step in the kids, that base.”
Peña is among more than 6,000 New York City family childcare providers who care for kids in their homes. Their programs are an essential part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to build a universal childcare system to alleviate high costs for parents. But despite the hefty bills New York families pay for childcare, home-based providers earn a median wage of $6 an hour, according to a report by The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs. Childcare advocates say that without serious reforms to how providers are compensated, these small businesses could be forced to close, undermining the city’s planned expansion.
“This is something that is cumulative after many, many, many years of disinvestment, and that's why it needs to be front and center for a plan towards universal childcare,” said Lauren Melodia, director of economic and fiscal policies at The Center for New York City Affairs.
