Nurture
Financial Security and Economic Mobility for Child Care Entrepreneurs
The pandemic made plain how essential child care is to a functioning economy; women's labor force participation hit a three-decade low as mothers left the workforce to take on the lion's share of caregiving
... But, even before the pandemic, the child care economy was broken
Figure 1. Difference in Prime-Age Labor Force Participation Rates, January 2020 Baseline, The Hamilton Project, Brookings
Figure 2. Child Care Market Failure
Reliance on a market-based system for setting prices means that, on one hand, low- and moderate-income parents cannot afford high-quality care, on the other, child care is one of the most underpaid fields in the United States†
Parents who cannot find child care, sit out of the workforce, earn less, and cannot contribute to the economy
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Adopting policies that dramatically expand subsidized child care and boost wages is essential
But we also must expand the supply of high-quality care, particularly in child care deserts
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Sector-specific workforce development strategies will both expand the supply and make jobs in the child care economy better
Figure 3. Interdependence in the Child Care Economy
Figure 4. Virtuous Circle of High-Quality Home-Based Child Care
ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES OF COLOR
Nearly 3 in 4 home child care entrepreneurs in California are women of color, including undocumented immigrants
Home-based child care business owners can earn family-sustaining incomes by applying sound business administration practices
Preparing women to run high-quality programs increases economic opportunity for owners, parents, and children
Child care businesses start, struggling businesses are viable, small businesses expand
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Marginalized entrepreneurs earn more & build wealth
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Supply of quality care increases in child care deserts
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Parents work and build economic security
Children build skills to succeed in school, leading to intergenerational health and wealth outcomes
Xavier Cortada, Dreaming of A World Free of Poverty, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003
