Briones, 55, was working 40 hours a week at the San Francisco Bay area child care center and tending to her own family. Child care workers earn less annually than 98% of other occupations and face poverty rates 7.7% higher than public school teachers, the report stated. Besides the dramatically low wages for employees, employers struggle with wafer-thin margins and parents with paying the costs of child care. The nonprofit Early Care and Education Pathways to Success (ECEPTS) develops and administers 35 early care and education registered apprenticeships in California — including Skyline — that have employed about 1,400 apprentices since 2019. While government funding covers the costs of most apprenticeships, the child care program the apprentice works for needs to pay for the required wage increase, which varies.