A new report is shining a light on what's being described as a child care crisis in Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, business leaders, lawmakers and child care experts gathered in the Ambassador Center for a round table discussion on the issue.

ReadyNation recently surveyed more than 1,100 child care program providers.

The non-profit found that low wages are causing historic staffing shortages in the child care sector.

"Right now, the reimbursement rate for childcare from the state is lower than what we need to pay our child care workers and that's where the problem lies," said Early Connections, Inc. executive director Michelle Harkins. "We have to figure out how we can pay our child care workers a higher rate."

According to ReadyNation state director Steve Doster, the average wage for a child care teacher in Pennsylvania is $12.43 an hour.

In Erie County, Doster says it's less than $11.00.

"It comes with a price tag of $430 million dollars, as part of the state budget, but as we're going to discuss here today, the cost of doing nothing is greater," said Doster. "It's over $6.6 billion in economic loss."

The change is something elected leaders will consider.

"It all comes down to funding," said PA Rep. Ryan Bizzarro. "This is the time of year where everybody wants a piece of the pie come budget season, but we really have to examine how we make this work and make this fit for Pennsylvania."