Posted on April 12, 2024
Running a business is a time-consuming endeavor, and if you have kids, you actually have two job titles: business owner and parent. Since you can’t be in two places at once, securing reliable and quality child care is often a must. However, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the child care industry has been struggling and their services are becoming increasingly difficult to find, let alone access. This has taken a major toll on entrepreneurship.
According to opinion poll findings released this week, Small Business Majority revealed that a lack of access to quality, affordable child care is holding back many entrepreneurs from establishing or fostering their business.
In a national survey conducted in January 2024 of 566 small business owners who are parents and/or have employees with children:
- 59% of small business owners felt that a lack of affordable child care is an obstacle to the growth of their business.
- 92% of the poll’s respondents were parents, and out of those respondents, 56% of them stated that their own child care issues forced them to take significant time away from their business, while 39% missed out on business opportunities and 26% were even forced to shutter their business for good.
Even when business owners don’t have child care issues of their own, they have reported that their employees’ lack of child care options have negatively impacted their business:
- 62% said decreased child care led to unexpected employee absences, while 30% reported having had an employee leaving their jobs over child care needs.
- 61% believe their employees’ child care issues have adversely affected their ability to efficiently do their job.
With the child care industry struggling after the federal Child Care Stabilization Grant expired at the end of September 2023, many business owners are in support of new federal legislation that could provide more funding to aid workers in the child care sector. The poll found that more than two thirds are in favor of policymakers renewing the Stabilization program specifically.
Our local communities thrive when there are more small businesses, but until quality child care becomes affordable and bountiful for the average entrepreneur, our local and national economies will never be the same.
