BY MICHELLE MCCREADY and WENDY CHUN-HOON | Let’s imagine, just for a moment, a childcare and early learning system that has the public investment it truly needs. Our educators would be compensated fairly, their facilities supported and families would no longer struggle to afford and find high-quality programs for their children. Everyone connected to that strong childcare system would have more freedom to contribute to an even stronger economy.
In early January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly Employment Situation Report. It found that while the nation’s unemployment rate ticked down in December 2022 and now sits at historically low levels, the labor force participation rate—or the approximate percentage of the population who works or is actively seeking work—remained stagnant and unchanged since the beginning of 2022.
In fact, the U.S. labor force participation rate of 62.3 percent is well below most G20 countries.
The picture worsens for women. Their labor force participation lags that of men by more than 11 percentage points. For families, and especially mothers, available childcare can make a significant difference by increasing labor force participation, sustaining employment and achieving economic security.
We read news articles almost daily about parents who want to work. They want to participate in the labor force, but cannot afford or find the childcare they need to hold down a job. Countless parents have told us how entire paychecks can be spent to meet the staggering price of childcare. Research supports what we’ve heard: In 2021, Child Care Aware of America’s (CCAoA) analyses showed that childcare prices increased by 5 percent.
Consider what Joy, a mom in Texas, shared, “If I can’t go to work, I can’t afford to pay for childcare. And if I don’t have childcare, I can’t get to work.”
Parents like Joy are caught in an endless cycle of not being able to find, afford or keep childcare.
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