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WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The Department of Children and Families stopped by The Marathon County Public Library, to have a roundtable discussion about the future of child care.
Local leaders and child care employees gathered to discuss the possibility of child care losing its funding. DCF Secretary Jeff Pertl started the discussion with saying, “It’s hard to make ends meet as a young family.”
After the discussion concluded, Pertl added, “The thing I heard loud and clear, is that there needs to be a state investment…And the big fear is that if this child care funding goes away, we are hearing 25 percent of centers might close. We are hearing about price increases, 25 to 50 dollars a week… Its already unaffordable, I don’t think people are going to be able to afford that.”
Many others at the round table said that they think one of the biggest problems is peoples ability to go to work. Discussions branched off into what families do when they have a child, and how many people end up quitting their jobs due to unaffordable child care.
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