Arkansas, like many other states, faces a crisis when it comes to quality and affordable child care for workers.
According to a recent study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the child care crisis costs the Arkansas economy as much as $865 million annually—that includes costs to businesses and tax revenue due to turnover and absenteeism or employees.
Other statistics from surveys conducted in Arkansas and nationally show:
- 53% of working adults in Arkansas ages 25-54 are parents. Of these parents, 37% had children under the age of 6.
- 85% of Arkansas parents cannot find high-quality care for their infants and toddlers.
- When parents can find high-quality care, they often can’t afford it. The average cost of infant care in Arkansas is about $7,300 per year, and higher quality care is over $10,000 per year.
- 34% of respondents reported that they or someone in their household had quit, failed to find a job or changed jobs due to childcare issues in the past 12 months.
There are child care deserts in Arkansas, and because of the industry’s regulatory requirements, it’s difficult to quickly license new facilities, much less find employees willing to work for the relatively low wages. COVID-19 also decimated the state’s childcare facilities, with more than 500 child care workers leaving the workforce between 2020 and 2021. The state is still recovering from that loss.
Excel By Eight, a nonprofit organization that works on health, education and child care issues, is working with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and numerous other business groups to address the child care shortage, which is expected to worsen in the coming years years. The newly formed coalition includes the Arkansas State Chamber and Associated Industries, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Pilgrim’s Pride, the Northwest Arkansas Council, St. Bernard Health Services, a large number of local chambers of commerce and several other philanthropic organizations.
Angela Duran, executive director of Excel By Eight, said the availability of quality childcare is not only important for the workforce, but is critical for young children and the future workforce.
“We know that the greatest development of young children’s brains occurs in the first few years of life. And it actually peaks at about 1 year of age. And many of the executive function skills that are important to employers down the road are actually developed in the first few years of life,” Durand said.
Randy Zook, CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas, said his organization is invested in it for similar reasons.
“If you have kids, young kids, and they need childcare and you have to go to work, if you don’t have a place to park your kids that you can rely on and rely on, this can take care of them while you are at work, you will not be able to go to work. So it’s hard for us to get enough people to go to work already. And that just adds to that problem,” Zook said.
He noted that in a recent conversation with a parent, childcare costs for their two children cost them $1,700 a month, or $20,400 a year — more than their mortgage.
Zook also noted that it can be very difficult for manufacturing workers who work second shifts or night shifts outside of traditional 8-to-5 work hours.
“This is even more problematic for manufacturers because they usually work in multiple shifts. Try finding second shift babysitting. Try finding overnight baby care [worker]. It is increasingly problematic and increasingly critical,” he said.
Durand hopes the coalition being built can generate enough political momentum and solutions to be successful in the 2025 legislative session. What that solution will look like is too early to say.
“It’s probably some combination of how we can use government dollars, how we can use business dollars and how the families themselves can contribute so that it’s a shared responsibility,” Durand said.
You can watch Duran and Zook’s conversation from this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics and Capitol View at the link below.
