From staff reports
A combined study conducted by the United Way of Pennsylvania (UWP) and the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission (ELIC) has released a report showing data to back up what parents already know:
Good, reliable child care is essential to finding and maintaining employment.
The Child Care is Essential for Working Families and Businesses report represents the results of a joint survey between the two entities last spring. The ELIC and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry surveyed businesses, while the UWP surveyed households on the impact of COVID-19 on both businesses and working parents.
The UWP survey identified a demographic of parents they called “asset limited, income constrained, employed (ALICE).” These working parents, the report says, “did not have adequate support during the pandemic to balance work and their children’s needs.”
The survey asked families to list child care challenges they’ve experienced since March 1, 2020, as a result of the pandemic.
Chief among them, according to responses, was juggling work and child care needs and helping children with distance learning.
All parents struggled with everything from the cost of child care to the health risks, reliability of care, and finding someone available to watch their kids. The least reported challenges among ALICE and non-ALICE families were reliability, availability, and cost.
The report states part of the current staffing crisis across most industries statewide could be based in that lack of child care. A total of 57% of ALICE families, according to the survey, reduced hours or quit jobs to compensate for lack of care.
Furthermore, the report says, 75% of employers surveyed have no formal way to gauge the child care needs of their employees. Some employers started offering child care support to employees during the pandemic. But 58% of those employers surveyed planned to discontinue those supports when the pandemic ends.
A total of 72% of employers offered flexible work scheduling or remote work. Employers were more likely to offer unpaid leave to compensate for child care needs (27%) than offer paid leave (24%).
Only 7% of responding employers indicated that they offered on-site child care.
And lack of quality child care doesn’t just hurt employees or businesses, the report indicates. “Quality child care is a two-generation workforce issue; essential for parents to work and a critical foundation of early learning and development for young children.
Employers who actively seek feedback from employees on what child care challenges they face, and then work toward mediating those challenges, can positively impact the economy, the report finishes.
