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Teachers can’t afford to live. Free housing is a solution

Teachers can’t afford to live. Free housing is a solution

It’s obvious that our economy relies on early care and education, but there’s a huge gap between what parents can afford and what teachers like me need to earn to survive.

Paris Pierce
| Opinion giver

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When I moved from Ohio to New Haven, Connecticut, I knew I wanted to pursue my career in early intervention and education. I also knew I needed a job that would allow me to support my children.

Unfortunately, there are very few jobs like this in my area.

It’s obvious that our economy relies on early care and education, but there’s a huge gap between what parents can afford and what teachers like me need to earn to survive.

The child care system is subsidized by the low wages of early childhood educators. Because of this reality, teachers often struggle to find safe, affordable housing. That’s why initiatives like the Friends Center for Children’s Free Teacher Housing Initiative are critical.

Help teachers build a foundation for financial stability

I’ve been part of the initiative for almost four years and I can’t emphasize enough how much it has improved my life.

This program isn’t just about living in safe housing without having to pay rent, although that has made an incredible difference – this initiative is about helping teachers build a foundation for long-term financial stability .

Through this initiative, I was paired with a financial coach to help me set and achieve savings goals with the money that would otherwise have gone toward rent. We discuss budget, credit, banking, and any other financial concerns I may have.

This support has given me relief, reduced my stress and significantly improved my family’s quality of life.

Additionally, it provides stability and the freedom I need to focus on both my personal and professional growth.

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Teachers want to continue doing the work we love

We need significant, sustained investment to stabilize the early care and education sector and show teachers and trainee teachers that our value is recognized.

By offering rent-free housing as part of our salary package – through a combination of housing purchased and donated to the Friends Center, as well as homes designed and built as part of a partnership with the Yale School of Architecture’s Jim Vlock First Year Building Project – Friends Center teachers can live safer lives while continuing to do the work we love.

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However, rent-free housing is not the only way to support early care and education.

Public programs could invest in the purchase or construction of day care centers and home care facilities, which could be offered rent-free to providers or with significant tax savings for homeowners.

Local, state and federal governments could also offer incentives to employers to build child care facilities, which would help offset capital costs.

Suppose public programs and private initiatives come together to address the supply gap in early care and education. In this case, we can reduce the financial burden of rent and mortgage payments on providers.

This would allow providers and the larger American public to reinvest in what matters most: paying teachers a living wage.

Ultimately, it’s not just about making early care and education affordable for families, but also about making it sustainable for educators.

Paris Pierce is an assistant teacher in the preschool program at the Friends Center for Children in New Haven, Connecticut.