Workforce, childcare crises are connected

Ohio is facing dual crises: a workforce crisis and a childcare crisis.

Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, working parents’ lack of access to affordable, quality childcare is directly impacting their ability to work.

In turn, workforce shortages are hampering our business and economic recovery.

A new statewide poll commissioned by Groundwork Ohio and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, one of the nation’s leading public opinion research firms, shows that if we don’t address our childcare crisis, Ohio’s economy will continue to suffer.

Without access to affordable, quality childcare and early education, families are struggling under enormous pressure.

Our poll found that more than four in 10 working parents with children under

the age of 5 have had to cut back on work hours to care for their children in recent months.

Meanwhile, nearly half of parents surveyed have had serious problems with childcare that has impacted their work, meeting work and family responsibilities, or affording childcare.

Perhaps most striking, though, is the toll that the pandemic has taken on moms in the workforce.

Nationally, nearly 1.8 million women have left the workforce since the start of the pandemic. Many mothers with children under the age of 5 who left the workforce haven’t returned.

The childcare crisis is a major barrier to moms returning to the workforce. Nearly 60% of non-working or parttime working moms with young children say they would go back to work if they had access to quality childcare at a reasonable cost.

It’s no surprise that when asked what childcare means to them, parents with and without childcare most commonly answered, “Work more.”

Parents understand that quality

childcare not only prepares children for school, life and their future careers, but it is also a powerful tool in confronting the workforce crisis that Ohio is facing.

Increasing access to affordable, quality childcare will, of course, mean increasing investment. Ohio has long underinvested in early childhood education. The consequences are clear.

Not only has this created barriers to work for parents and workforce problems for businesses, but just 41% of

Ohio children start kindergarten ready to learn. Fewer than 24% of Black students and fewer than 27% of students experiencing poverty in Ohio are ready for kindergarten.

According to the poll, Ohioans of all stripes agree that the state’s current level of funding for early childhood education is woefully insufficient.

Ohio voters believe nearly a quarter of the state’s education budget should be allocated toward early childhood education. Parents say the number should be 31%, and even “strong” Republicans believe we should be spending much more than we currently do.

When parents with young children are all marching in the same direction, it’s time for state policymakers and leaders to take notice. If they do, parents and Ohio voters across the board will support them. The poll found that an overwhelming majority of Ohio voters agree that funding for early childhood education would be a top factor in voting for a political candidate.

Parents are telling us what they need to get back to work. Policymakers must listen to them, or our economy will pay the price.

Shannon Jones is president and CEO of Groundwork Ohio, a nonpartisan public-policy research and advocacy organization.