Access to affordable, quality childcare is a pressing issue for working families across our country. As anyone who has experienced the struggles that come with working while providing for and taking care of a family can tell you, the mental and emotional toll it takes on a parent is significant.
However, the latest Parental Work Disruption Index shows that this strain extends well beyond the individual psyche of workers and family members saddled with finding quality childcare, but is also a detriment to our economic potential.
The index specifically tracks the number of American workers impacted by barriers to childcare and shows how these hurdles hurt our economy in serious ways. For one, these difficulties depress workforce participation, particularly for women. Far more women than men, across all categories of workers, experience workforce absences — either working part-time or missing work entirely — due to issues with childcare.
Evidence shows that these absences are extremely costly to our overall economic output. A robust, productive workforce drives economic growth. However, the data demonstrates that between 1.2 – 1.5 million workers are affected by childcare issues each month, leading to a loss in total work each year ranging between 468 million to 1.4 billion hours. That means that every single year, our nation could be losing over a billion working hours that could instead drive newfound growth in communities across the country.
This issue is particularly pressing in Alabama. A 2021 study found that our state had the highest rate of workers missing work due to childcare issues in the nation that year. Compounding this problem, nearly two-thirds of Alabama’s workers with young children reported working fewer hours due to difficulty accessing childcare. While the impact on families cannot and should not be overlooked, this issue goes beyond that. The childcare crisis is hurting our state’s ability to grow and thrive economically and affects us all, whether we have children or not.
Luckily, members of the U.S. Congress are tackling this issue head-on. Alabama’s own Sen. Katie Britt and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine have introduced a bipartisan legislative package that would address this childcare predicament for the betterment of our entire economy. This package, comprised of the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act, would enhance a series of pro-family tax credits and institute programs to help working caregivers afford the right childcare for them. From expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) to addressing the childcare workforce shortages, the Kaine-Britt plan would make childcare much more accessible and give many Americans the option to continue or go back to work. Manufacture Alabama encourages other members of Congress to see the value in the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act and work swiftly to pass this legislation.
Jon Barganier is president and chief executive officer of Manufacture Alabama. Manufacture Alabama is a trade association dedicated to the competitive, legislative, regulatory and operational interests and needs of manufacturers and their partner industries in Alabama.
