Women drive Missouri and Kansas economies. They need Congress’ help with child care | Opinion

Kansas City Star - 2/14/2024

2023 was deemed the “Year of the Woman,” with Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, which added billions of dollars in economic growth.

But lawmakers still haven’t caught on to the power of women entrepreneurs.

Women entrepreneurs drive great economic value in the United States. By 2019, women-owned companies represented 42% of all U.S. businesses and generated $1.9 trillion worth of revenue, according to the Small Business Administration.

Today, there are more than 13 million women-owned businesses and counting. The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that there are more than 500,000 active small businesses in Missouri. Of that number, an estimated 133,000 are owned by women.

In Kansas, there are 56,107 firms and 9,408, or nearly 6%, are women-owned, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. economy loses an estimated $122 billion yearly because of child care challenges, which is more than double the $57 billion found in 2018, according to the Council for a Strong America.

On average, businesses lose $1,640 a year for each working parent because of lost revenue and hiring costs caused by insufficient child care, totaling $23 billion annually. The estimated annual economic impact of the child care crisis in Missouri is $1.9 billion. Iin Kansas, it is $1 billion.

Here in the heartland of America, I wanted to hear directly from women entrepreneurs. United WE hosted town halls across Kansas and Missouri with women to learn about issues that affect them most.

Their No. 1 economic concern is child care. Women repeatedly spoke about their dreams to reach their economic potential and provide for their families, but were concerned about not having the support needed to work and raise their children.

One Kansas woman said, “I left the workforce after I had my second child and didn’t return until my fourth child went to preschool, because it was too expensive to pay for child care.”

Another said, “I wanted to stay home with my kids so I opened my own day care, but it cost more to run the day care than I made.”

For most families, accessing and affording child care is not attainable. Kansas infant care costs are 29% of female median earnings — one of the highest percentages in the U.S. In Missouri, center-based infant care averages $9,880 per year. More than 300 child care entities closed during the pandemic without plans to reopen — creating child care deserts, areas where there are three-plus children for one seat in a child care center. In Missouri, 54% of residents live in a child care desert.

This issue is not unique to the Midwest. Access to child care is a national crisis — a situation already at its breaking point before COVID-19 and loosely held together with pandemic-era relief funding.

The Department of Health and Human Services sets an affordability benchmark of child care out-of-pocket costs at no more than 7% of a household’s income, meaning that care is unaffordable for married-couple or single-parent families in every state. Families in rural and urban communities, and across all socioeconomic levels, rely on child care.

In mid-January, a $78 billion package was announced to revive an expansion of the child tax credit and expired business breaks, drawing rare bipartisan support in the House and Senate. On Jan. 31, the House passed the bill. It is expected to face steep obstacles in the Senate.

This funding would support more than 220,000 child care providers across the country serving more than a million children.

If this bill is not passed and signed, it could exacerbate labor shortages and impact women who want to start their businesses or those already in the workforce — from air traffic controllers to teachers. Most important, when signed, this bill will provide child care support for roughly 127,000 children in Kansas and 93,000 in Missouri.

We must solve the child care crisis to fix U.S. workforce development and economic growth issues.

Change will not come far or fast enough for women entrepreneurs unless we intentionally focus on creating opportunities for them. To do so, child care is a vital first step.

Congress: Let’s make 2024 an even stronger economic growth year for women and help inspire the future Taylor Swifts, Beyonces and Greta Gerwigs of the world. Please roll up your sleeves and get to work to pass this bill.

Families: We encourage you to use your voice. Contact your representatives today, and encourage them to get to work and pass this legislation.

Wendy Doyle is president and CEO of United WE, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to advance all women’s economic and civic leadership.