NYS Legislature looks to bolster pay to address child care staff shortages
Michael Gormley, newsday.com
ALBANY — The State Legislature is seeking to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to keep child care centers open in a crisis that is straining many families and their budgets, and also is a drag on the state’s labor market.
A shortage of qualified child care workers, many of whom have left for better-paying jobs in retail and in restaurants, has created an odd mix of empty, unused child care rooms at centers that also have waiting lists, according to legislators and advocates.