Chicago Child Care Center Workers Get Raise to $15
By Neal
Many workers at child care centers in the City of Chicago just got a raise today due to minimum wage going up. That raise just didn’t happen. Many will see this raise in their paychecks around the 15th or at the end of the month. Child care center workers – through our union We Are Child Care & Early Learning IL SEIU – and with allies from across the spectrum – helped to start the Fight for $15 years ago.
Chicago Minimum Wage Details
Employers with 21+ employees
July 1, 2021 – $15
Employers with 4-20 employees
July 1, 2021 – $14
July 1, 2022 – $14.50
July 1, 2023 – $15
Employers with 3 or fewer employees
No increase
Questions, Thoughts?
Have questions about how the minimum wage affects you? Have thoughts about it? Click below.
CCAP Rates Increase 3.5%
Child care center workers and home child care providers – through our union – have helped get regular increases to CCAP rates, which make raises and minimum wage increases for child care workers possible. This helps child care center workers in every part of the state of Illinois.
Our historic contract includes 7 rate increases over the life of the contract – and July 2021 marks our 4th rate increase!
Victory Timeline: How SEIU Child Care Center Workers & Allies Won the Fight for $15
2012 – The Beginning
Retail and fast food workers begin first Fight for $15 protests in Chicago, New York, and other locations.
2014/2015 – Raise Chicago
SEIU child care and other members help lead a the Raise Chicago coalition to raise Chicago’s minimum wage. The Mayor and City Council eventually pass a bill in late 2014 to put Chicago on a path to $13 an hour.
2017 – #15ForIL Part 1
March 2017 – Introduction: SEIU works with IL State Rep. Will Guzzardi to introduce a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2022.
Media Tour – Summer 2017: SEIU members from across the state of Illinois participate in a media tour to rally support for a bill to raise the state minimum wage to $15 by 2022. The bill passes the IL house and Senate. It is vetoed by then-Governor Bruce Rauner.
Walk-A-Day: June 29, 2018: Future Governor J.B. Pritzker walks a day in the shoes of child care center worker Tunja Daniels. Pritzker pledges to pass a $15 minimum wage bill. He followed through on that promise in 2019 (IL is on the path to hit $15 by 2025).
July 2018 – $12 is Not Enough
Ahead of the Chicago minimum wage increase (then going to $12), child care center teacher Nicole Young tells city officials that $12 is not enough and child care workers need at least $15.
She said she took 2 trains and 2 buses to work. “I am a teacher by professional, but once I get to work, I wear many, many hats. I become a mom, I become a doctor, a social worker, a sociologist, I potty train, I change diapers, I do lesson plans, I become an art teacher, I do all kinds of things.” She loves teaching and said she wasn’t paid enough for all the work she does.
2019 – #15ForIL Part 2 (IL Passes $15)
Child care center workers and other SEIU members advocate for state to pass a $15 minimum wage. The bill passes in February 2019, putting child care center and other workers throughout IL on the path to $15 by 2025.
2019 – #15CantWait (Chicago Passes $15)
Child care and other workers at SEIU lead Raise Chicago #15CantWait coalition to raise Chicago’s minimum wage from $13 to $15. Ordinance passed in November 2019.
July 2021
For those who work in Chicago at employers of 21 or more employees, the minimum wage is now $15 an hour.
The Fight for Better Wages & Better Child Care Continues
Want to get involved in the fight? Have questions about how the minimum wage affects you? Have thoughts about it? Click below.