The bill to companies for ‘inadequate’ daycare in Mass.: $1 billion-plus a year – Boston Globe
By Jon Chesto
Employers know firsthand that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on parents scrambling for childcare. Now, the bosses have an actual price tag to put the economic damage in precise financial terms.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released a report on Thursday that outlines the detrimental impacts the childcare shortage is having on the state’s economy. Among the eye-popping stats: Inadequate childcare cost businesses in Massachusetts an estimated $97 million a month last summer and fall, or more than $1 billion a year — largely because of employees who have left jobs to care for their kids and the disruption that turnover caused. From March 2020 through October 2021, 1,200 childcare providers had permanently closed in Massachusetts, according to the report; even when factoring in 725 newly opened programs, the state still had 6,200 fewer childcare openings last fall than it did before the pandemic.
“We know there’s a workforce problem for Massachusetts, and I think there’s an early education [problem],” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed organization. “It’s really important that we realize the interconnectedness of them. By recognizing this and trying to solve it in this way, it better positions Massachusetts for economic recovery.”
The report’s arrival comes as lawmakers on Beacon Hill debate how to support the beleaguered industry.
JD Chesloff, president of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, said the report validates the business community’s call for investing in childcare as a workforce development strategy.
“It feels like we’re at a time where the public sector and private sector are aligned to doing something about this,” Chesloff said. “The timing is really good, as the Legislature is debating this stuff, to really understand the economic impact.”