There is no escaping the headlines: There’s a child care crisis in our country, and something’s got to give. With new government incentives and unprecedented labor shortages, more employers are considering how to use child care as a workforce attraction and retention tool.
Last month the Biden administration presented a first-of-its-kind provision in its $53 billion plan to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry. Chip makers seeking incentives under the Chips Act will be required to provide employees with access to affordable child care.
What that looks like exactly remains to be seen. This could include building child care centers near new manufacturing plants or offering stipends to employees to pay for care at existing sites.
Some local employers are already implementing their own initiatives. Schreiber Foods announced in January it is partnering with TOOTRiS Child Care On-Demand to provide Richland Center employees up to $5,000 in a new annual child care assistance benefit.
In February, Progress Lakeshore in Manitowoc released the results of its local study of child care and workforce needs. Of more than 650 survey participants, 79% report a child care issue that affected work.
Progress Lakeshore is leading a group that received a Dream Up! Grant through the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families that will work to bring more child care workers into the industry and get employers involved.
“Child care is not only affecting those that are currently in the workforce from participating fully, but it’s keeping people out of the workforce,” Progress Lakeshore’s Jamie Zastrow told Insight contributor Nikki Kallio for this month’s economic development report. “Our labor force participation rates could be better, and that definitely demonstrated that that is one of the barriers to employment for sure. We’ll be sharing that with our employers, with various HR directors.”
As a parent of two preschoolers, I applaud those businesses that have stepped up on child care with visions for a stronger and happier workforce — a win-win for employers and employees alike.
