Blog

The Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission (PA ELIC) and the PA Chamber of Business & Industry have once again teamed up to collect information on the impact of child care issues on Pennsylvania businesses and its workforce to release the new report: Employing and Engaging Families with Young Children.

In 2021, the PA Chamber and the PA ELIC’s employer child care impact survey underscored that labor force issues are often deeply intertwined with child care challenges. Two years later, findings show that employers continue to struggle with recruitment, retention, and performance issues because many working parents with young children do not have access to or cannot afford quality child care.

• 2021 survey findings uncovered a need to help employers better understand Pennsylvania’s child care challenges and resources. As a result, PA ELIC created Investments in Caring PA, a free online toolkit for employers to better support their working families and child care (www.investmentsincaringpa.com).
• Most 2023 survey respondents recognize that qualified, well-compensated, early childhood educators is a key component of the solution.

Affordability, backup child care, and a lack of local provider capacity top the list of parents’ concerns.

Some of the findings from the new report, Employing and Engaging Families with Young Children include:

• Most employers indicated they have moderate or significant recruitment and retention issues due to child care. (81 percent)
• The majority of businesses said it is extremely or very important to help employees meet child care needs. (69 percent)
• Most employers are unaware of or haven't used tools to address employees' child care needs. (64 percent)

A lack of affordable, quality child care impacts employers on multiple levels. These survey results will help the PA Chamber and the PA Early Learning Investment Commission identify strategies to elevate the business case for child care and guide innovative and strategic solutions.

Read the Report