A minimum wage worker in Colorado would need to work full time for 32 weeks to pay for care for one infant, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Slow bleed: Three stories of Colorado child care providers trying to survive
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After a frustrating search for child care in her rural Colorado town, Samantha Wilson left her office job to open a child care center. Two months later, the pandemic hit.
Across the state in the suburb of Aurora, Latanya Austin watched helplessly last summer as parents tearfully pulled their children out of her in-home child care business because of lost jobs or fear of COVID-19.
In Montrose, the large size of Chrissy Simmons’ child care center, which serves about 150 kids, didn’t protect her from the pandemic. Enrollment plummeted and the center nearly went out of business.