Key Findings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's New Research on Child Care and Workforce Participation
**Core Issue:** Childcare challenges are increasingly preventing parents, particularly mothers, from joining or fully participating in the workforce.
**Impact:**
- Reduced family income
- Labor shortages for businesses
- Long-term career setbacks for parents, primarily women
**Trends:**
- Post-pandemic, child care issues are more prevalent than before, despite expectations of improvement.
- From the pre-pandemic period to present day, the number of parents affected by child care issues has increased by 19%.
- Mothers with children under five are twice as likely to face these problems as those with older kids or fathers.
**Barriers to Child Care Access:**
1. **Cost:** Childcare costs have surged post-pandemic, often matching rent expenses.
2. **Labor Shortages:** High turnover and low pay make hiring a challenge in the childcare industry.
**Political Attention:**
- Historically a Democratic issue, child care is now gaining Republican attention.
- President-elect Trump's campaign suggested tariffs as a solution, while his running mate proposed raising the child tax credit and encouraging grandparent caregiving.
**Workforce Trends:**
- Despite child care challenges, more mothers of young children have entered the workforce recently, potentially driving up demand for care.
**Employer Concerns:**
- The Chicago Fed's research was prompted by employers' complaints about hiring difficulties due to potential employees' childcare struggles.
**Methodology:**
- Researchers analyzed Census surveys from pre-pandemic, peak pandemic, and post-pandemic periods (2022-2024).
- They focused on responses from parents with children under 18 who cited childcare problems as the main reason for not working, working part-time, or missing work days.
Childcare issues are not only affecting families but also creating hiring challenges for businesses. Addressing these issues could help increase workforce participation and support economic growth.