Getting more Kentuckians back in the workforce depends on better child care opportunities | Opinion

Lexington Herald-Leader - 2/22/2024

The Kentucky business community’s top priorities include improving the commonwealth’s economic competitiveness and addressing workforce challenges. Thanks to the efforts of state policymakers, Kentucky has made progress in both areas. 2024, however, presents both a challenge to this momentum and a unique opportunity to give us a competitive advantage over other states and support workforce participation – and it all centers on high-quality child care.

High-quality child care – often referred to as early childhood education too – improves outcomes for children, but it’s also an economic issue. We know employers need workers, and just as important, workers need safe environments for their children to learn and receive care while they work. As a mother of two school age children, I know this is a challenge for all working parents but especially for the tens of thousands of non-working Kentucky parents who might otherwise participate in the workforce if they had better access to child care. Last October, an estimated 62,733 non-working Kentucky adults cited “caring for children not in school or daycare” as their main reason for not working, according to a U.S. Census survey.

This number is astounding when we consider the fact that Kentucky had 43,715 fewer workers in December 2023 compared to December 2019 and our workforce participation rate has fallen from 59 percent to 57.0. Of course, access to early childhood learning opportunities is not the sole cause of these unsustainable declines – multiple factors are involved – but it must be part of the solution. If we could address barriers facing even half of those 62,733 non-working adults in the Census survey, we could recover 71 percent of the workforce we have lost since 2019.

While the limited availability of child care has long been a known drag on workforce participation, it has become more pressing in recent years. The pandemic put tremendous strain on the child care sector. All states – Kentucky included – leveraged federal resources to support child care providers and working families, which benefited our economy and businesses. But those resources will fully run out later this year leaving many child care providers, families, and employers to wonder – what is next?

This dynamic presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that we risk losing child care services throughout the state and other supports for working parents as federal resources are exhausted. Without question, this will result in even lower workforce participation and an ever smaller overall workforce.

The opportunity is that all states are struggling with this same challenge, but Kentucky could lead the way with a transformative solution. The states that succeed in overcoming this challenge will have a competitive edge when it comes to workforce growth and business attraction.

The question isn’t if we should address this challenge but how. The Kentucky Chamber is working with a coalition of nearly 50 organizations to advance consensus-driven, common-sense solutions. We are encouraging a bold but fiscally sustainable strategy centered on priorities like maintaining recent improvements to the Child Care Assistance Program to ensure low-income families can afford care; supporting more in-home family child care providers to increase access in rural areas; incentivizing innovative employer-based care options to expand options for workers, K-12 teachers, and college students; strengthening the Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership to support middle-income workers; solving challenges in the early childhood workforce through scholarships and innovations like subsidized care for child care teachers; and collaborating with local governments to address potential zoning barriers.

As with most complex issues, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, we need a multifaceted approach. Of course, deeper conversations over the future and sustainability of high-quality child care in Kentucky are warranted – and the Chamber is committed to helping drive them. But for the 2024 legislative session, we know what needs to be done. Let’s invest in children, strengthen working families, and grow our workforce.

Ashli Watts is president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.