Economic Impact
Business Leaders Can Make a Difference: In supporting parents and the next generation of workers
Today’s young children are tomorrow’s workforce. That’s what makes the business community a direct stakeholder in the type of workforce in the pipeline.
Florida Workforce Impact
- Pre-COVID:
- Moms: 74 percent of mothers with children under six in Florida were working
- Moms: 69 percent of mothers with children both under six and school-age in Florida were working
- Young Children: 70 percent of children under age six in Florida were in households with all parents working
- 885,641 children under age six in Florida lived in a family where all available parents in the household were working (both parents in two-parent households and the head of household in single parent families)
- Cost: The average annual cost in Florida for center-based infant care is $9,312.
- 54% of Florida children under age six living in families below 200 percent of the federal poverty level have parents who work at least some nontraditional hours (outside of 8:00am - 6:00pm)
- Nearly 30% of parents with young children have 2 weeks or less advance notice of scheduled work hours.
- With advance notice of work hours, parents can more easily schedule a regular child care arrangement for their children.
Florida Economic Impact
- Turnover as a result of lack of child care costs businesses 20% of an hourly employee's salary
- Employer costs include the need to recruit, interview, hire, and train a new replacement and the loss of the company’s investment in the knowledge and skills of the employee who leaves
- A 2019 report by ReadyNation estimated that U.S. businesses lose about $13 billion each year due to child care related issues that cause employees to miss work, leave work early, or quit their jobs
- Children who start school unable to perform at grade level are more likely to require remedial services and to repeat a grade and are less likely to graduate from high school.
- Students who drop out of high school are more likely than high school graduates to be arrested and spend time in prison. The Vera Institute estimates that per person prison costs in Florida exceed $19,000 per year.
Florida Community Impact
- Child care is a work support for parents. However, it is also an early learning setting for children. Research shows that the earliest years of a child’s life are when the foundation is formed for all future learning.
- Currently, barely over half of incoming kindergarten students start school ready to learn.
- Third Grade Scores. The 2021 Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) results for 3rd grade English language arts found:
- 54% of students perform at a level of satisfactory or higher (with 26% at grade level proficiency or mastery)
- Student scores varied widely by race, ethnicity, and income:
- 51% of Black students scored satisfactory or above
- 37% of Hispanic students scored satisfactory or above
- 30% of children with disabilities scored satisfactory or above
- 44% of economically disadvantaged students scored satisfactory or above
- 67% of White students scored satisfactory or above
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