on the table, politicians and pundits are debating the cost of child care—whether and how much we can afford to invest in child care and early childhood education. Research reveals, however, that the real issue is the cost ofinvesting in childcare—costs that fall on not only women but also employers and the economy as a whole.the U.S.
“Almost two-thirds of parents facing child care struggles report leaving work early, and more than half report being distracted at or missing full days of work. An overwhelming 86 percent of primary caregivers said problems with child care hurt their efforts or time commitment at work. “The predictable impact: One-in-five say they’ve been reprimanded, 8 percent have been fired, and just over one-in-ten have been demoted, transferred or fired. Meanwhile, productivity problems cause employers to lose $12.7 billion annually due to child care challenges faced by their workforce. Taxpayers also suffer, with lower tax revenues.”
The lack of child care infrastructure in the U.S. depresses the country’s economic growth. Economic health is measured by the gross domestic product, or GDP, which is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced. GDP growth is determined by labor force growth plus productivity growth. The lack of child care infrastructure in the U.S. hurts the economic growth by depressing women’s labor force participation.
There is a significant relationship between a country’s per capita GDP and women’s labor force participation rate. (
Wow!!!
GoodTimeGirlsWA And caregiving is just one of many forms of stolen labor women experience.