Getting Organized

Unions have begun organizing home-based child care providers, both regulated family child care providers and “family, friend, and neighbor” care providers receiving public funds, with the goal of improving provider working conditions, increasing their compensation, and strengthening the quality of child care they offer.  Gains have included higher payment rates, increased access to health insurance, and new opportunities for training.  Unions are also working to improve policies related to child care assistance to ensure that these policies are easier to understand and navigate for both providers and parents. Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers and 2010 Update to that report examine this movement.

Reports & Toolkits

Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers - 2010 Update
June 15, 2010

In February 2007, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) published Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers. That report focused on the growing movement to authorize home-based child care providers—both regulated family child care (FCC) providers and "family, friend, and neighbor” (FFN) care providers who are exempt from regulation but receive public funds—to join unions and negotiate with the state for better compensation and working conditions. This 2010 Update reports on developments across the country between February 2007 and March 2010 (unless otherwise noted) as the movement continues to gain momentum.

 Read more...
Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers
February 15, 2007
Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers describes a recent and growing trend to unionize home-based child care providers, both regulated family child care providers and family, friend, and neighbor providers who are exempt from regulation but receive public funds. Unionization is proving to be a promising strategy for securing increased public investment in child care. Getting Organized analyzes the campaigns for unionization and provides detailed information about a states where home-based providers have achieved formal recognition, states where local organizing activity is ongoing and states where unionization legislation has failed. It also describes in detail the benefits to providers and families that have been triggered by the unionization efforts. Read more...