Survey Finds Jackson County in Need of Child Care Providers
Friday, November 2nd, 2018 -- 9:00 AM
-The Jackson County Child Care Task Force was formed in late 2017 to address the growing issue of inadequate child care in Jackson County.Employers are struggling to recruit and retain talented staff. One of the reasons for this struggle is the lack of child care providers in the community. The task force recently conducted a survey asking working parents for their feedback on the child care issues they face. The results were very eye-opening. In Jackson County, only 43.55% of parents feel their current child care arrangement fully meets their family’s needs. Many families rely on family and friends to care for their children, making it very difficult to maintain their work schedule. Many working parents have missed work due to child care issues. They also asked what direct impact this has on the workforce. Over 68% of the respondents were unable to work overtime or have been absent from work due to child care issues.
Another 56% have been late to work, and over 50% are unable to work to their full capacity due to stress and concerns about child care. The overall cost of the lost productivity of workers in Jackson County totaled over $209,000 per month or over $2.5 million a year. The top concerns for parents are the cost and the availability of quality care. Some families are on wait lists for months. Making the issues even more difficult, centers are struggling to fill vacant staff positions. The task force is working hard to uncover and develop solutions to help our workforce with this issue.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.