Day 222: On the Brink

The world has reached 28 million coronavirus cases. Portugal had a bit of a spike today with 646 confirmed cases, the highest since April 20th.

Time reports that the daycare industry is on the brink of collapse:

Millions of American parents, who are already struggling to shell out an average of about $10,000 per toddler per year for childcare, may wonder why their daycare center is in such dire financial straits. But the industry as a whole was barely profitable even before the pandemic hit.

Unlike call centers that were able to cut down on building expenses by downsizing or going remote or retail stores that skimped on staffing, daycare facilities went into the pandemic with little fat to trim. State regulations require that they keep high adult-to-child ratios, maintain ample square footage for space to play and learn, and in some places, hire staff that are trained in early childhood development. These measures are important: Research indicates that early childhood education shapes everything from adult brain volume to reading proficiency. “That has an impact on our future labor force and their economic potential, which ultimately is tied to our country’s economic potential,” explains Katica Roy, a gender economist.

But childcare providers perform this crucial service for pennies on the dollar. The average daycare operator grosses just $48,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whereas the standard daycare worker makes just $24,000. Usually these jobs come with little or no paid time off, and no employee-sponsored healthcare.

It's one of those industries where COVID-unemployment pays better than having a job, so hiring back unemployed workers is proving to be something of a challenge.

The largest fake numbers of the pandemic so far are those being modeled for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a harmless outdoor event in South Dakota that has, allegedly, infected about half the number of people who attended (260,000 vs. 500,000). The state of South Dakota has attributed only 124 cases and one death to exposure at the rally, and the governor has expressed some ire at being the target of extreme COVID modeling.

Here in Massachusetts, the state labor relations board has ruled that teachers in the Andover school system accidentally went on an illegal strike back on August 31st when their union got about half of them to refuse to enter schools for training on safety grounds. Also, cases were up about 0.15% today.