HARRISBURG PA – Chambers of commerce from across Pennsylvania, including nine that represent portions of the Tri-County region, are urging state lawmakers to address what they call a “continuous child care crisis.”
Their letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro, and all members of the state House and Senate, reports working parents are struggling to find, and afford, quality child care. Those twin problems are “impeding (employers’) ability to fill open positions, and hurting their bottom line,” it observes.
The chambers ask lawmakers to quickly meet the growing need. Among their suggested solutions: follow the lead of “at least 18” other states. Those governments “have directly invested in recruitment, retention or wage-impacting strategies to solve the child care teacher shortage, and ensure working families can find care,” the letter states.
The chambers acknowledge Pennsylvania’s General Assembly “acted in a bi-partisan manner” to offer a tax credit program for child and dependent care. However, they say it addresses only part of the problem: affordability. It does not deal, they add, with a teacher shortage caused primarily by low wages.
The 51 signers of Thursday’s (June 20) letter include the chamber memberships of thousands of local and regional businesses.
Among those asking for relief were the TriCounty Area Chamber in Pottstown, the Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber in East Greenville, the Norristown Chamber in Norristown, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Montgomery County in Lansdale, the Exton Region Chamber in Exton, the Chester County Chamber in Malvern, the Southern Chester County Chamber in West Grove, and the Greater Reading Chamber in Reading. The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber in Allentown also was a signatory.
The annual economic cost in PA
“Alleviating the child care workforce shortage means classrooms can remain open or reopen,” the letter explains. “Increasing the availability of child care” for tens of thousands of families who need it” allows parents “to remain in the workforce and contribute to Pennsylvania’s overall economy,” it contends.
The chambers’ letter cites a report from the Council for A Strong America, a Harrisburg-based non-profit, that surveyed more than 300 working mothers in Pennsylvania. It estimates that “gaps in Pennsylvania’s child care system” have led to “an annual economic cost of $2.4 billion in lost earnings, productivity, and tax revenue.”
“The vast majority of child care responsibility still falls on mothers,” according to the report. As a result, it concludes, “work disruptions, career barriers, and financial burdens caused by inadequate child care are greater for working moms as a percentage of earnings than all working parents.”
The annual economic cost of both working mothers and fathers dealing with gaps in PA’s child care system, it claims, is estimated at $6.65 billion annually.
Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash, used by Travels With The Post under license
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