Charlotte preschool director Emma Biggs on the impending crisis in NC’s childcare industry.

News & Views

North Carolina's childcare industry could see a serious reduction in its workforce without additional help. Stabilization grants run out in June. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)

Charlotte preschool director Emma Biggs (Courtesy photo)

North Carolina childcare providers are facing a potentially disastrous financial cliff in June. During the pandemic, the federal government provided significant relief dollars that helped thousands of providers stay open by raising worker salaries to minimally adequate levels. Unfortunately, those relief dollars are scheduled to run out next month.

To call attention to this situation, many providers across the nation briefly closed their centers last week as part of a National Day Without Childcare and one of those providers was Emma Biggs, the director of the Pathway Preschool Center in Charlotte. And as Biggs reminded NC Newsline when we caught up with her for a brief interview, if elected leaders fail to step in to replace the expiring funds, as many as 1,500 childcare centers across North Carolina serving nearly 92,000 children and their families will soon be at risk of going out of business.

Childcare providers, workers, and parents converged on the General Assembly on May 16th to let lawmakers know what it would be like if all those centers were to close, leaving working parents scrambling to find a solution. Click below to view our photo gallery of “A Day Without Childcare.”

North Carolina's childcare industry could see a serious reduction in its workforce without additional help. Stabilization grants run out in June. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)

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