Businesses the biggest losers from broken child care system, leaving billions on table

Editor's Note: This op-ed is part of a special report by the Ideas Lab on child care in Wisconsin ahead of a special session of the Legislature Sept 20.

In times of economic stress, it’s often programs that fund child care and other social services that get cut. Yet study after study and real life experience experience all demonstrate the positive impacts of supporting early child care and education for the benefit of children, families, and communities — including employers.

ReadyNation, a group of business leaders who promote solutions that prepare children to succeed in education, work, and life, recently released a report that the child care crisis costs the United States $122 billion annually in lost productivity, wages, and revenue. Wisconsin alone loses an estimated $1.9 billion annually − and these figures just represent families with infants and toddlers.

This crisis is due in part to the lack of child care availability in the state. The pandemic caused many child care providers to close down temporarily, with many shutting their doors permanently. Those that have been able to reopen are operating at reduced staff, and struggling to keep those that remain on payroll.

Half of Wisconsin lives in a child care desert

This has left more than half of Wisconsin residents in a “child care desert” where there are more than three children under five for every licensed child care slot, leaving many parents without any options for child care and astronomical wait times for availability. This lack of care is even worse for those in rural areas, and can put a strain on many families already struggling economically.

As business leaders, we believe in common sense, evidence-based solutions that help our communities and our economy thrive. We see the steps that employers can take in helping solve this crisis: from getting involved in organizations like ReadyNation, to proactively advocating with legislators, to creating family-friendly policies and programs for their employees.

But, ultimately, it will require business leaders and legislators working together to ensure that our current workforce is productive and that future generations will be as well. We all know very well that the historic success of America’s economy has been built on the concept of investment in capital. Surely we should understand that human capital is the most valuable asset of our nation, of our state, and of every community.

State should not backslide on childcare regulations

This is why we need more investments in child care on the state level. Not less. Failure to invest now will pay negative dividends down the road. We also need to protect critical regulations, like ones that determine the maximum number of young children to each adult caregiver, which keep providers and the children they care for safe. These regulations are in place for good reason, and it is important to note that most providers in Wisconsin are not asking for these changes because they understand better than anyone that high-quality, safe care depends onsound regulatory standards.

More perspectives on child care in Wisconsin:

• Wait lists. High costs. Poor quality. I don't work because of broken child care system.

• Child care is collapsing. We'll all lose if more centers close their doors

We plead with our government leaders to seek common ground. We urge them to work together to find solutions that include more investment in our young, now, to maximize our long-term human capital, and to avoid making changes that could put our children and the people who care for them at risk.

If we fail, we risk the long-term competitiveness and vitality of our state, and the future success of the next generation of Americans.Dean Gruner is the retired former CEO of ThedaCare. Jon Stellmacher is retired after serving as Senior Vice President of Thrivent Financial. Both are members of ReadyNation.

About this special report: We invited experts, providers and parents to provide perspectives as state lawmakers meet in a special session Sept. 20 to consider a plan by Gov. Tony Evers to provide $365 million for Child Care Counts, a pandemic-era program to keep early childhood education centers open. Evers and Democrats tried on multiple occasions to include $340 million in permanent funding for the program in the state budget was adopted last summer but Republican lawmakers included $15 million for other child care services instead.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Investing in human capital, daycare regulations will pay dividends