When communities talk about economic development, the conversation usually centers on jobs, housing, infrastructure and attracting new employers.
Rarely does anyone start by talking about child care.
That needs to change.
Across Indiana, employers continue to face workforce shortages. Businesses are competing for talent in nearly every sector. Community leaders are asking what it takes to become a place where families want to live, work and build their futures.
The answer increasingly comes back to a challenge hiding in plain sight: access to affordable, reliable child care.
According to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, inadequate access to child care costs Indiana’s economy an estimated $4.2 billion annually through lost productivity, workforce disruptions and reduced labor force participation.
For many working parents, child-care costs rival a mortgage payment. Families often find themselves doing the math on whether a second income is worth the cost of care. At the same time, child-care providers operate on razor-thin margins. Many struggle to recruit and retain workers while trying to keep tuition affordable for families.
The result is a system that isn’t working well for anyone.
Parents can’t afford it. Providers can’t sustain it. Employers need workers but often don’t know how to help.
This isn’t simply a family issue. It’s an economic issue.
When parents cannot find dependable child care, businesses experience increased absenteeism, reduced workforce participation and higher turnover. When child-care providers close their doors, entire communities lose a critical piece of the infrastructure that allows people to work.
Yet we continue to treat child care as an individual challenge rather than a community responsibility.
The communities that will thrive in the coming decades are the ones that recognize that investing in children is also investing in economic growth.
Years ago, our region came together around initiatives like Read to Succeed, mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to support early literacy in local schools. One of the most powerful lessons from that effort was that businesses pay attention to communities that prioritize children.
That lesson remains true today.
Companies looking to expand or relocate evaluate more than tax rates and real estate. They look at quality of life. They look at schools. They look at workforce availability. Increasingly, they look at whether families can access the support systems they need to succeed.
Child care is one of those support systems.
No single employer can solve this challenge alone. Small and mid-sized businesses often lack the resources to create on-site child care or extensive family benefits. Government cannot solve it alone, either. Neither can nonprofits.
What we need is a shared commitment to making northwest Indiana a true community of choice for families.
That means exploring partnerships between employers and child-care providers. It means supporting innovative scheduling and workplace flexibility where possible. It means engaging civic leaders, businesses and community organizations in honest conversations about what families need to remain and thrive here.
Most importantly, it means recognizing that child care is not a side issue.
It is workforce development.
It is talent retention.
It is economic competitiveness.
And if we want our communities to grow, attract investment and remain strong for future generations, it is an issue we can no longer afford to ignore.
Gary Henriott is a lifelong resident of Lafayette and the retired CEO and chairman of Henriott Group. He is the chair of the IU Health West Region board of directors and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network, and president of Lafayette’s Board of Public Works and Safety.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Opinion: Child care is an economic issue. Time to treat it like one.
Reporting by Gary Henriott, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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By Gary Henriott, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
