Start a Childcare Program for Working Moms

Her Situation

In 2024, the national average cost of childcare was $13,128 — almost as much as the annual salary for a minimum wage worker. These rates vary across the nation with some state average childcare cost reaching above $20,000. Parents may qualify for childcare subsidies, but with long waiting lists and a critical shortage of childcare workers, they are left without needed support.  

If affordable childcare is not accessible, parents may be forced to leave their children in unsafe environments in order to get to work and put food on the table. For a mom facing an unexpected pregnancy, she may be all too aware of this reality, as 59% of women who have abortions already have children. If she can’t afford childcare, she can’t get to work. If she can’t get to work, she doesn’t earn a paycheck and can’t provide for her children. So what is she to do? 

Her Community

Project One Day is an innovative childcare model that turns childcare subsidy waitlists into a workforce pipeline. Parents with low incomes undergo childcare worker training and then volunteer one day per week in the classroom alongside experienced Lead Educators. In exchange, parents receive a scholarship for 50 hours a week of high-quality childcare. This gives parents 40 hours per week to pursue work or education. Plus, parents gain skills that not only fill the childcare staffing gap but help them provide higher-quality care at home. Education topics include pediatric CPR and first aid certification, child growth and development, and social and emotional development and children.  

Project One Day’s model benefits everyone. With the staffing gap currently impacting the childcare industry, training parents allows them to become a part of the workforce, reducing the hiring strain most providers face. It activates what would otherwise be a long list of families on a waitlist to instead contribute to their community and reap the benefits immediately. This model also expands childcare access for low-income parents without expanding government spending and burdening taxpayers.