One of the biggest problems impacting the growth of America’s economy, equitable access to entrepreneurship, and workforce development is child care. Our research has revealed that child care costs more than in-state tuition across multiple states and absorbs 29% of a woman's income in Kansas.
“The cost of child care is more than my mortgage.” - Town hall participant in Hays, KS
Due to the pandemic, child care centers have closed at an alarming rate with no plans to reopen. The centers that do exist are struggling to stay open, meet federal licensing requirements and pay a living wage.
“I wanted to stay home with my children, so I opened a child center. It was so expensive to operate that I did not make a profit at all. I had to close it and return to a full-time job outside of the home.” - Town hall participant in Garden City, KS
Occupational licensing barriers are not new to us at United WE. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 23% of full-time workers have a license or certification. While most requirements exist for public safety, some get caught up in the system and create unnecessary burdens, including expensive fees and irrelevant training. Women hold occupational licenses at a higher rate than men - in Missouri, women hold them at a 3 times higher rate than men.
While the demand for child care has been an issue for decades, the data that exists lacks an emphasis on understanding licensing barriers and identifying solutions to meet the child care demand. The multiple aspects of the child care crisis are holding women back every day and solutions are possible.
As always, our approach to any issue is rooted in data. We know to create sustainable, nonpartisan policies to improve the child care situation, we must know more about the issue. That’s why we’re starting a two-year national research project evaluating child care licensing.
We will:
1.) Work with an academic partner to conduct state-by-state child care licensing research study to expand upon the existing research available. Our research will look through the women’s entrepreneur lens by developing a baseline of state-by-state licensing requirements for childcare providers, identifying which states are implementing child care licensing extremely well, identifying which licensing standards may contribute the most to center closings/barriers for women-owned providers, and identifying occupational licensing barriers that exist for the childcare workforce (i.e., certifications).
2.) Conduct a nationwide survey of mothers who are entrepreneurs – We will collaborate with a
nationwide partner supporting women entrepreneurs to better understand the childcare needs and barriers for mothers who are entrepreneurs in a post-COVID-19 environment.
3.) Convene a Women’s Entrepreneur Childcare Task Force consisting of women-owned
childcare providers and mothers who are entrepreneurs from multiple states. They will focus on reviewing research results, brainstorming innovative solutions, and developing next-step recommendations to improve childcare for women entrepreneurs as providers and parents alike.
4.) Advocate for policy change by sharing the research and recommendations from the actions above to convene and educate elected officials, policymakers, community leaders, and thought leaders about the barriers and creative solutions to reduce onerous licensing barriers and help address the childcare crisis for women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs from the task force will be engaged in our education and advocacy efforts. We will focus our advocacy efforts initially in three Midwestern states (Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma), and expand beyond to key states identified in the research.
This initiative is made possible through funding by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. By developing solutions to tackle this crisis, women will have the option to fully participate in the workforce, boosting our economy by 10-15% according to a recent McKinsey Global Institute study. Together, we can improve the lives of women and families across the nation by attacking all aspects of the child care issue, including occupational licensing.
Fondly,
Wendy D. Doyle
United WE President & CEO