![]() Several interrelated challenges render Tennessee’s child care system lacking.Īccess: Two-thirds of Tennessee parents reported problems accessing suitable child care, meaning care that is available outside Monday-Friday daytime hours, can accommodate changing shifts, has open slots, is in a convenient location, or offers backup/sick child care. The current child care system does not meet the needs of families or employers To be productive at work, they also need to know that the care provides a safe, nurturing environment that supports their child’s development and early learning. Parents need child care so they can go to work, earn a living for their families, and build successful careers. Others cobble together multiple arrangements and rely on informal and often unlicensed care, with 42% relying on family members for at least part of the time. In Tennessee, more than 300,000 children (66%)under the age of 6 have all available parents in the workforce.5 More than a third of surveyed families rely on formal center-based care, Head Start or school-based PreK. Most parents of young children are in the workforce and need child care Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for the 2,330 surveys is +/- 2.0 percentage points. The survey is large-scale, new (administered Jthrough July 9, 2019), and has a sampling frame that matches to Tennessee household demographics (race, age, family size), labor market conditions in Tennessee (earnings, sector of work), and regional populations. Zogby Analytics was commissioned by TQEE to conduct a new survey of Tennessee parents with a child under age 5. He was commissioned by TQEE to produce The Economic Consequences of Insufficient Child Care on Working Families across Tennessee on which this report is based. is a Professor of Economics at the City University of New York and an Economist with the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. Tennesseans for Quality Early Education is a statewide, bipartisan nonprofit that unites business, elected leaders, law enforcement, faith, education and civic organizations and people in communities across Tennessee to make high-quality early learning, birth through third grade, an urgent policy priority.ĭr. This report was produced by Tennesseans for Quality Early Education (TQEE), with support from Dr. Workers and employers feel pain in pocketbooks and productivity Acknowledgements About this Report Another 50 percent cite finding suitable quality as an issue. The cost of two children in center-based care is nearly $16,000 annually – 21 percent of the median income of a Tennessee married family and 60.4 percent of families living in poverty. Two-thirds of parents say affordability of care is a big challenge. Two-thirds of parents said they have trouble accessing care at all, exacerbated by the fact that 48 percent of Tennesseans live in a child care “desert” – an area that has three times as many children as licensed child care slots. Specifically: 39 percent turned down a new job offer or promotion, 35 percent had pay or hours reduced or changed employment status to part-time, 33 percent turned down education or training, and 32 percent had to quit a job, or were fired or demoted.Īccess, affordability and quality are the primary factors that drag down the system. An overwhelming 98 percent of Tennessee parents of children under age 5 said that inadequate child care services hurt their work productivity or limited career opportunities. ![]() ![]() Tennessee parents who encounter child care problems are hit hard – losing an estimated $850 million in earnings each year. The consequences: $1.34 billion annually in lost earnings and revenue. Our 2019 report, “Want to Grow Tennessee’s Economy? Fix the Child Care Crisis,” delivers unprecedented insight into the adverse economic impacts of Tennessee’s child care system dysfunction. Want to Grow Tennessee’s Economy? Fix the Child Care Crisis If you’re a Tennessean, the Child Care Crisis impacts you.
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