The Texas House Committee on International Relations and Economic Development held a hearing last week to focus on child care in our state. Your Chamber was invited by Chair Angie Chen Button to help provide the perspective of business leaders.
A report last year by ReadyNation found that the lack of reliable child care for parents of young children up to age 3 could cost Texas $4.9 billion a year. A second report by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that the Texas economy loses more than an estimated $9 billion a year from breakdowns in child care.
One of the biggest issues plaguing the industry is lack of capacity for children. According to Texas Health and Human Services Commission data, Texas lost about 21% of child care providers from March 2020 through September 2021. Of those, 41% provided care for infants and toddlers, while 79% were child care homes, which disproportionately affect rural communities, communities of color and families that need nontraditional hours of care. Enrollment data also showed that in 2019, there were about 87 child care spots per 100 children of working parents. In 2021, it was 54.9 seats per 100 children — a 37% drop.
“It is clear that child care is important to our economy,” said Katie Ferrier, Vice President for Education & Workforce Development for the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. “Child care access has a direct impact on employers and our state's productivity.”
Your Chamber will continue to work with the Legislature in the coming months to help ease the burden on Texas businesses and develop solutions to the child care crisis in our state. If you would like to be a part of those conversations and/or you have specific examples of how your business or employees are impacted by a lack of child care options, please contact Katie Ferrier.