Childcare impacts workforce and workforce impacts childcare

Mike Grant, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
Updated ·5 min read

Apr. 18—Editor's Note: This is second installment of a local series on child care.

Martin, Daviess and Pike counties consistently have among the lowest unemployment rates in the state. Since the spike that hit when a number of businesses shut down during COVID the rates have been in the 2-3% neighborhood. Those numbers have businesses throughout the area always on the lookout for employees.

"All the time, all the companies in Martin County are looking for workforce. They are hiring all of the time," said Executive Director for Martin County Alliance for Economic Development Jessica Potts. "If they are not telling you then there are signs on windows and signs on doors or on the side of the building saying they are hiring."

"All of our businesses are beating the same drum. Workforce, workforce, workforce. They need reliable workforce," said Ashley Willis, executive director for Pike County Economic Development Corporation.

About 60% of the eligible workforce is actively seeking work in southern Indiana. That means there is a large group that is sitting on the sidelines. Many of those potential employees are women who are struggling to find child care that would let them get into the workforce.

"I can tell you it is an issue, because when I was first expecting I was put on a wait list and I was on it through my entire pregnancy and I still have not received a call. We have had family watch our kids. We hired a Mennonite woman to watch them. As far as licensed day-cares we are in need of them," said Potts. "This is more than a family issue or a community issue or even a workforce issue. As the saying goes, 'I don't go to work until my children are taken care of."'

"Child care is really about the ability to provide workforce," said Daviess County Economic Development Executive Director Bryant Niehoff. "It is all tied to workforce and quality of life and as we hear from our companies time and time again, the message is work force, work force, work force. We have to consider that those folks who struggle with securing child care may be able to help fill those vacancies in our work force. We are definitely going to be looking at that."

A recent study in Pike County indicated there are more than 800 children that fall in the age group that could put them in day care, but there are only around 80 available slots. Virtually, all of the area day care providers have waiting lists.

"I was at a family child care, before I moved over to Christ United (Methodist Church). When I was going through the process of becoming a ministry instead of a family childcare, the state agencies called Daviess County a ghost town for childcare compared to other counties in Indiana," said Kendra Dlugosz, owner and director of Rhythm and Rhyme Daycare and Preschool. "If Daviess County takes a look at day care, they are going to find there are not nearly enough of them. That is why there are so many stay at home moms. There just is not enough child care, especially for infants. I tell my parents that the minute you find out you are pregnant you tell me before you tell your family so that you can get on the waiting list, because there is such a huge need in this area for child care."

Dlugosz explains that as a child care ministry she is under some different rules than when she operated a home based day care. One of those rules is that her business has to be affiliated with a church. Another is that she is required to have more staff on hand per child.

One reason that providers can't offer to take on more children is they also need more workforce.

"I am not limited here by space, but I am limited by staffing," added Dlugosz. "I have to maintain certain ratios in order to maintain the number of kids for our space and finding that amount of staff has proved to be impossible since moving to this location. The ratio numbers are different for family child cares and although we sometimes had trouble filling those positions, we never had the issues that we have here as a ministry. The ratios for ministries are a lot smaller, so the amount of staff required to get to max capacity at this facility, I am nowhere close. I have tried to fill it and I have a lot of part-time help, but finding enough full-time employees has turned out to be a huge issue."

The logical action would be to make the jobs more attractive, but child care is not a lucrative business for anyone.

"Money is always part of the decision," said Dlugosz. "As a small business owner, I cannot offer benefits, as far as insurance and paid time off and paid sick time and those things. If you do not have a spouse that is working with benefits or are still on your parents' insurance, it is a big deal. That is something that deters people from working in a small business child care."

Even if the owners would raise benefits and wages, the end result would wind up on the parents. Jessica Hamden has two kids in the Dlugosz' preschool. She praises the business, but admits money can be an issue for parents with kids in child care.

"I think staffing is an issue. Of course, staffing now is an issue in any business," said Hamden, who works as an RN in a doctor's office. "It's expensive. We are fortunate that we make enough money that we can afford child care. I know for some people it can definitely lead to mom staying home, especially when you begin having multiple children in day care. Really though, for what they are doing it is pretty cheap."