Care.com’s Post

Without access to safe, high-quality child care, the U.S. workforce and greater economy is at risk. The economic toll is estimated to be $122 billion each year in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue—all due to parents who cannot work because of child care challenges. Read more from Forbes on the impact of the child care crisis on today’s workforce: https://lnkd.in/eFsmcVFy

We’re so proud to be partnering with Paige S. Coleman, MBA and the Washington State Department of Commerce to advance the conversation about child care capacity, and the lack thereof, and how to help employers become more family friendly. Paige and FirstRuler Karen Langehough, MPM SPHR made a presentation to the Northwest Rural Investment Strategy Summit in February 2024 and received a mention in the after-action report: “There is a massive child care shortage in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in remote rural areas. Child care is a complex economic challenge; cost is high, and affordability is a barrier to both care providers and parents. Parents want child care close to their home and work, and in isolated rural communities, that can be especially difficult. Child care affordability and accessibility issues can cause parents (particularly women) to remain out of the workforce. However, despite the high cost of child care, care workers’ wages remain lower than almost any other occupation. The current system needs to shift.” Summit attendees heard from Children’s Institute, Child Care Aware of Washington, FirstRule Group, Early Learning Hub of Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties, and Euvalcree, as speakers shared innovative models and common challenges to expanding child care in rural Pacific Northwest communities. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3Xf1b32

North Carolinians work best for each other when the infrastructure is on their side. Proactive economic development policy is a multifaceted process with many layered working parts:

Employers are feeling the impact of our broken child care system on their workforces, so they're stepping into the child care space in order to better recruit and retain working parents. How they implement child care benefits can either help lay the groundwork for the comprehensive, publicly funded child care our communities need—or exacerbate existing inequities in the sector. A new piece from Julie Kashen, Lea Woods, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)'s Lauren Hogan offers five critical considerations for employers seeking to provide accessible, affordable, high-quality child care: https://bit.ly/3RGMa6k

#DYK? Cultural values are not a determining factor when it comes to child care preferences for Hispanic parents. Rather, trust, safety/cleanliness, and quality caregivers are determining factors. Read more about these survey findings in this brief from the Bipartisan Policy Center: https://buff.ly/4bmFHFr.

The pandemic has left most states with a child care crisis that’s still lingering today. Lack of affordable, quality child care impacts state economies in a big way and is a huge obstacle to many parents returning to the workforce. Resultant is proud to have partnered with the State of Iowa on a solution to help solve this problem. We built an operational data store and the API that connects providers and agencies, giving providers easy interactions with the government and agencies accurate provider data to inform their decisions. This solution lets the state see child care supply and demand in real time. Learn about its other actionable insights here. https://loom.ly/c6QIhMo

A compelling opinion piece in today’s NYT. “It is time to acknowledge that child care is directly tied to health. It is time to appreciate that stable, affordable, accessible, high-quality child care is preventive medicine for decreasing long-term health risks…It is time to view immediate federal investment in child care as a key part of the solution to address the growing mental health crisis. It is time to fight for permanent federal investment in child care as a critical expenditure, with an exponential effect on the health of Americans for generations to come. It is time to accept that child care is health care.”

Deciding when to make the transition can be tough, but once that’s resolved, the next question is how to find an assisted living community that’s right for your older adult.  Consider a Life Plan Community that offers the full range of continuing care that will provide care for all the seasons of life for your loved one. By choosing a Life Plan Community like McGregor it's likely the community is staffed for higher older adults can remain in one lifestyle for a longer period of time-having more longevity in that particular level of care that proivdes options other than transitioning to a long term care community. https://lnkd.in/gxZvNdqc

Join Economist Impact for a virtual event, Growing pains: the economic case for investing in child care, on February 27. The event, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will share research findings from a new data model, developed by Economist Impact, that quantifies the economic returns of public investment in child care. The discussion will address barriers to policy reform and share country-specific initiatives to unlock socio-economic gains. #childcare https://lnkd.in/ehmprDFf

More child care and employment data to arm yourself with: For every $1 organizations spent on support for employees with children, they reaped $18 in benefits! That's an 18% ROI, where else can you see returns like that? Check out this new research from Vivvi and The Fifth Trimester: https://lnkd.in/e7HQQk9n Featuring Lauren Smith Brody of The Fifth Trimester and Lauren Hobbs of Vivvi.