Child care has always been essential to our economy — let's start treating it that way - The Hill
By Representative Katherine Clark, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Suzanne Clark
The COVID-19 pandemic’s economic and societal disruptions have highlighted an important truth: child care is essential to our return to work and our nation’s recovery.
Parents heal our sick, stock our shelves, design our products, and run our businesses—and, as any parent knows, those roles are secondary to our main job: raising and protecting our children. So, if we want to get parents back to work, we have to prioritize child care.
The economic benefits of child care are well documented. We know that our kids, parents, and economy rely on access to child care and that high-quality, affordable care will be central to our economic rebound. Also clear are the economic losses associated with its inaccessibility. A study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that in one state alone, a lack of child care is estimated to cost employers as much as $2.88 billion annually in lost productivity, absences, and turnover rate—and that was before COVID-19 forced many children and parents to stay home in lockdowns or remote environments.