We have been sounding the alarm for years: Oregon’s child care system needs support. From early childhood educators and child care advocates, to parents and families, we are being pushed to the brink. We have been pleading with our elected leaders to prioritize children in our state’s policies.
But now is the time to take action. Years of underinvestment have made educators unable to care for themselves and pushed families into impossible choices. Now, as we approach the National Day Without Child Care, child care providers across the state will show the true impact of continued underfunding in the child care sector. On May 11, these Oregon workers will shut down to demand what every working family deserves: universal child care, now.
The Day Without Child Care isn’t about disruption; it’s about clarity. Child care is not separate from other industries. When Oregon’s child care providers walk out, we’re showing exactly what happens when a system built on exploitation collapses.
In every corner of the state, families are struggling to access the affordable, equitable, quality child care they need, and entire communities are suffering the effects. When families cannot find child care, they cannot work. When families cannot work, local businesses become short-staffed and families decrease their spending. From there, windows are forced to shutter and the economy shrinks.
This is not an issue limited to certain people or regions; from our roles in Albany and in Portland, and across Oregon, we both have seen just how universal the problem is. As of 2024, 34 of Oregon’s 36 counties qualified as a child care desert for infants and toddlers.
Even for older children, when more care opportunities are available, a quarter of our counties remain deserts. Moreover, child care is unaffordable for nearly all families in Oregon, regardless of income. A recent LendingTree study shows a household with two children needs to make over $400,000 per year for child care to be affordable — which is nearly four times the median income for Oregon families.
We understand how difficult it is to have a system that doesn’t work for families. Families that are referred for care might wait up to 18 months to be accepted if they aren’t already on the list. That means families have a year and a half of no access to care, of limited access to work and struggle to provide for their children. By then, their child may have aged out of services, and missed benefits such as early math and literacy support, social skill development and early identification of disabilities. Losing further funds for such programs would be devastating.
If we want to stabilize this ecosystem and finally address the problems plaguing our system, investment is necessary. Funding child care isn’t a luxury or an unnecessary add-on — it’s the infrastructure that makes Oregon work. It is essential for our lawmakers to support educators, value children and allow families to work and local businesses to thrive. Our policies do not currently reflect this, but they can.
A universal problem requires a universal solution. This is why we support the campaign to win child care for all. It reflects the far-reaching nature of this industry: addressing the racial, gender and economic inequities that are at the root of these discussions.
Oregon needs a child care system that guarantees quality care for every child, living wages for every provider and justice for the Black and Brown communities who have been carrying this system on their backs. We urge our leaders to give the child care industry the respect and resources that it deeply needs. We want our state to prioritize children over corporate profits and tax breaks for billionaires.
While the Day Without Child Care may be just one day, the campaign to win universal child care will continue until that goal is realized. There is a role for everyone — from the largest cities to the smallest towns — to share their values and uplift the importance of child care. Every Oregon family is deserving of quality, affordable care.
By Kendra Votava and Ty Morris. Votava is a child care provider based in Albany and organizes with For All Families Oregon, a grassroots organization advocating for family-forward policies. Morris is based in Portland and specializes in trauma-informed anti-bias training and coaching for early educators and organizes with For All Families Oregon, a grassroots organization advocating for family-forward policies.
This guest commentary is from news partner Oregon Capital Chronicle, and it may or may not reflect the views of The Corvallis Advocate, or its management, staff, supporters and advertisers.
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