More parents say child care problems are keeping them out of work
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Child care issues are increasingly keeping parents out of the workforce, finds new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Why it matters: If parents can't work, that means less income for families and fewer workers for businesses to hire.
- Especially for mothers, lack of access to child care can create long-term career issues, holding parents — typically women — back from promotions, opportunities and advancement.
Between the lines: You'd think that after the pandemic shuttered daycare centers and schools, parents would now have an easier time. Instead, the situation worsened.
How they did it: The researchers looked at Census surveys that ask people why they haven't been working, examining three different periods — pre-pandemic, peak pandemic and post-pandemic from 2022-2024.
- They narrowed in on responses from parents who live with children under 18, and cited child care problems as the main reason they were either not in the labor force, working part-time only or missing work days.
By the numbers: The number of these child care-affected parents increased by 19% from the pre-pandemic period to present day.
- Mothers living with a child under age five were twice as likely to face these problems as those living with older kids, or fathers.
State of play: The report doesn't identify these child care problems, but there are generally two big barriers for parents trying to access care these days.
- Price. The cost of care has spiked post-pandemic. For many families, child care for one child costs about the same as rent, per a new report from the Labor Department that looks at 2022 data.
- Labor shortages. Hiring and turnover is a big issue, as child care is one of the lowest-paying professions in the country.
Zoom out: Child care has typically been a Democratic issue, but as the situation worsens, it's increasingly on the GOP radar.
- During his campaign, President-elect Trump said that increased tariffs would take care of the problem. His running mate has proposed raising the child tax credit — something Trump did in his first term — and encouraging more grandparents to look after kids.
The intrigue: Even as child care challenges have increased, more mothers of young children have entered the workforce over the past few years.
- That could indeed be raising demand for care — and making it harder to find.
The big picture: Child care issues are causing headaches for employers, too.
- One reason researchers at the Chicago Fed are looking at child care — they've put out several papers recently — is that they keep hearing about the issue from the business community, says Brianna Smith, a senior research analyst who worked on the report.
- The recurring complaint: Employers are having trouble hiring because potential employees can't find someone to watch their children. "Without even asking people kept bringing it up," Smith says.
