Penny
Gerking
family-child-care-provider
Nebraska
Penny Gerking is a licensed family child care provider in Auburn, Nebraska.
Family child care is not just about the children. It's about the family. We're helping all of them, not just the kids that come in our door. We're helping their siblings. Parents ask me for advice all the time, and I teach them. So we're helping their parents too."
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Women Working in Home-based Child Care Are Experiencing the Worst of Pay Inequity
About 92% of child care workers and 97% of home-based child care providers are women. Child care is also one of the lowest compensated jobs in our country with median hourly wages at around $13 per hour. Together with the inspiring women who are home-based child care providers and caregivers, we use this month to call for adequate wages that reflect the value of the contributions of providers to young child development, family support, and local economies and communities.