State Assemblymember Monica Wallace, along with local officials, gathered in Erie County Friday, to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to save New York's child care industry.

They want $46 million in state funding to cover the “true cost of child care in the county.”

A recent Cornell University study found that 11% of the child care workforce has left since 2018. Current staff is working between 1,000 and 1,200 unpaid hours per year, on top of many not receiving health care benefits. Also, approximately 75% of the workforce earns below $15 an hour.

Christine's Childcare director Christine Erving says she can’t afford to hire staff.

"I cannot afford to hire staff,” she said. “I have turned away seven parents this week because I can't open my doors. I can only get licensed for 16 when I'm really supposed to have 46."

"Just to cover existing costs, they're falling short by somewhere between about $50 and $100 per week per child," Russell Weaver, Cornell University ILR Buffalo Co-Lab director of research, said.

Officials say this section of the economy can't afford to be overlooked since it enables everyone else, especially women, to go to work while their children are being cared for.

Cornell's study also found that about 88% of Erie County child care workers are women and people of color.