State government knows: To lure jobs, workers, you must have quality child care

When you think about economic development, you probably think of incentives, not child care. But North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Sanders says access to affordable, quality child care is a growing problem for businesses, especially when it comes to recruiting them.

That's why the state Department of Commerce announced they’re creating a new position – a "child care business liaison" who can help businesses help their workers find quality childcare options.

The new liaison will also work in conjunction with the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, which oversees early childhood education in the state.

There’s a child care shortage across the entire country, but it’s worse in North Carolina. The 2023 Kids Count report by the Annie E Casey Foundation found families here pay nearly $10,000 a year for center-based child care, 25 percent higher than the national average.

About half of North Carolina families with children live in so-called "child care deserts," places where there aren’t enough openings for children who need them, or where quality child care is financially out of reach for most families. That problem worsened after the pandemic, when many preschools and child care centers closed their doors.

Sanders says that's not just a problem for families – it’s a problem for employers, too, because it cuts into the available workforce.

She says the liaison will work with companies interested in coming to the state to look for solutions early in the process, "helping them come up with ways to subsidize child care, offer solutions to their employees, even create child care centers if necessary."

"It's important to families, it's important to the workforce. And It's important to companies as they work to achieve their economic objectives," Sanders said. "They need people."

Sanders said she's hoping the liaison can help existing businesses, too.

The position at Commerce is primarily funded by a grant from Invest Early NC, a collaborative of philanthropic groups working to improve access to child care. Invest Early NC project director Amber Payne called the shortage a "growing crisis."

"Without quality child care available to families, businesses lose out on employees, parents lose earnings, and young children miss an opportunity for early education," Payne said. "A problem this widespread and complex will require business, philanthropy, government and early care providers/educators to work together toward innovative solutions."

Sanders said it's also important for the state to invest more funding in early childhood education, from increasing pay for child care workers and teachers to creating more available seats in the state pre-K program.