By Jill Miller, bi3, and Shannon Jones, Groundwork Ohio
Ohio is facing a crisis that impacts the health of both our families and our businesses: child care. Speak to any parent with a child under five, and you’ll hear navigating child care is a headache at best. At worst, it’s a crisis threatening family stability, spiraling into negative impacts on parents’ and children’s mental and physical health. Businesses also feel the strain, citing the lack of accessible child care as one of the biggest threats to their workforce.
“Half of small businesses have said this child care crisis is having a visible effect on workforce in their operations,” said Rick Carfagna, senior vice president of government affairs at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. “It doesn’t matter if it’s manufacturing or health care or any other segment of our economy… no industry is untouched by this.”
The numbers paint a clear picture: child care in Ohio is both unaffordable and insufficient. Child care is often the biggest expense for a family with young children, compared to other household expenses. A family with an infant and a preschooler in center-based care can end up paying more for child care than for housing. The cost of infant care is especially frightening, accounting for nearly 40% of the income of a single-parent family. Furthermore, 30% of Ohioans live in “child care deserts,” areas with a severe shortage of licensed child care slots, more than half of which are in rural areas.
This scarcity of quality, affordable child care contributes significantly to the workforce shortages Ohio businesses face. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports almost 60% of parents leave the workforce due to inadequate child care options. Nearly half of small business owners cite the lack of affordable and accessible child care as a major obstacle to recruiting and retaining employees. Consequently, Ohio’s economy suffers an estimated annual loss of $3.9 billion due to child care issues.
Businesses can be part of the solution. Here’s how.
Change workplace practices to help employees thrive
Businesses must explore shifting workplace practices to better address employee needs.
- Schedule predictability is crucial to allow parents the chance to secure consistent child care arrangements. In addition, research by the Economic Policy Institute shows children of parents working irregular hours face negative developmental consequences.
- Schedule flexibility is one of the most beneficial policies for helping employees balance family and work.
- Job sharing can also be valuable to an employee and an employer, increasing productivity, net worth and retention and even boosting the employee’s overall job satisfaction.
Invest in child care solutions
Investing in child care benefits for employees is another critical step.
• Supplying backup child care services can minimize absenteeism and boost productivity when regular care arrangements fall through.
• On-site child care provides a competitive edge in employee recruitment and may improve morale and reduce turnover.
• Offering child care benefits, such as stipends, paid family leave and flexible spending accounts, can positively impact the entire workforce.
Advocate for policy change and public investment
Businesses must also advocate for broader policy changes. Public advocacy raises awareness about the economic benefits of investing in child care and garners support for local, state and federal investment.
Governor DeWine recently announced two new state initiatives to help ease the burden on families:
- The Child Care Choice voucher program: This program will assist Ohio families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level with vouchers to help cover child care costs. In the first few weeks since the program opened, 1,135 Ohio children — including 729 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers — are being served by this new voucher program, translating into 781 parents now able to enter the workforce.
- Child care access grants: An $85 million allocation will support licensed early care and education providers, helping those organizations increase capacity, complete repairs and provide additional support to staff and families, especially those with special needs. This much-needed program saw requests from Ohio’s licensed child care providers totaling more than $643 million.
The time is now for business to lead
While these are important steps, they are just the beginning. Experts say addressing this problem will require collective efforts from all sectors. Now is the time for business leaders and working professionals to act. You can lead the way by changing workplace practices, investing in child care solutions, and advocating for policy changes and public investments that support families and the economy.
