Indiana's child care issues cost the state $4 billion last year, Chamber report says

In a recent survey of Hoosier parents, 57 percent said they’ve recently missed work or school due to child care-related issues. And 40 percent said they’ve left the workforce in the last year due to those complications.

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce estimates the lack of affordable options and other issues cost the state more than $4 billion annually.

According to the Chamber’s report, parents who miss work bring on cost to themselves and their employer. The estimated economic impact factors in the costs of employee absenteeism and turnover, and lost tax revenue which the Chamber said is more than $1 billion a year.

The other costs include reduced pay for the parents and businesses paying more to make up for the missed work.

Jason Bearce is the vice president of education and workforce development for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

“If a parent doesn't have a safe and reliable place for their child to be while they're at work, there's a good chance that they're not going to make it to work consistently or they might have to make a hard decision to pull out of the workforce altogether,” Bearce said.
 

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Bearce said child care workforce retention is another key issue and increasing wages is a solution to help workers stay in the field.

Additionally, access to reliable child care provides children with important early learning opportunities said Early Learning Indiana President and CEO Maureen Weber. Early Learning Indiana partnered to create the report with the Chamber.

“Access to high quality, affordable early learning opportunities enables parents to go to work to pursue that education program that might increase their wage earning potential,” Weber said. “At the same time, it's critically important for young children to have access to the types of experiences that will make the most of the early years of development.”
 

Timoria Cunningham is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at tcunningham@wfyi.org.