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Our three organizations — Greater Winston-Salem Inc, REACH Women’s Network, and Leadership Winston-Salem — work intentionally in Forsyth County to grow and support the development of our local workforce, including prospective, new, and established business owners, entrepreneurs, female leaders and employees, and our community’s leaders of tomorrow.
But these efforts to make Winston-Salem an employer of choice, a business destination, and an incubator for innovation are being hindered by persistent and pervasive gaps in affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for Forsyth County’s workforce. There are five families vying for every one licensed child care slot, and in many cases, the yearly cost of that care now exceeds the cost of a year of college.
Our child care trilemma — limited availability, quality, and affordability — has created a crisis that is impacting not only our local workforce but the larger economy. Three telling statistics:
- According to a NC Chamber Foundation Child Care Survey, nearly 60% of NC workers with children under five who left their jobs cited an inability to find child care as a key reason.
- That same survey found that 37% of workers with children under five reported refusing a job opportunity, promotion, or job change because accepting that opportunity would have increased their child care expenses to an unaffordable level.
- In a REACH Women’s Network survey of more than 700 women in Forsyth County, nearly half of participants listed child care responsibilities as the top issue impeding advancement at work.
As a community, and especially as a business community, we must address the child care crisis and develop solutions that make it possible for our employers and our workforce to realize their full potential. Over the past four months, our organizations have hosted a series of community conversations to bring together employers, community leaders, and child care experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities around quality early childhood education.
We heard from child care center owners about investing in, and retaining, our early childhood educators. We learned from businesses like ThriveMore, which runs Brookridge Retirement Community, about their plans to build an on-site child care center operated by Imprints Cares. And we gained insights from industry experts such as Child Care Resource Center, which works with local businesses to connect their employees with child care options.
But we need to do more – much more.
It’s time to think about innovative partnerships — between businesses and child care centers, neighboring businesses, downtown spaces, and manufacturing campuses — to begin easing the burden faced by families with young children.
The first step is to be informed, and we encourage this community to read a new report entitled “Early Childhood Education is Everyone’s Business” published by The Pre-K Priority, a community coalition working together to improve the quality, accessibility, and number of pre-K classrooms in Forsyth County in order to eliminate the persistent educational disparities among students entering kindergarten.
This report includes vital information about our local workforce and the economic impacts of inaccessible, unaffordable, unavailable child care. More importantly, it highlights avenues businesses can take to move us forward in solving the child care trilemma.
The second is to ask your employees what they need in terms of supports and resources related to child care and early childhood education. State resources such as Family Forward NC have sample surveys to get you started, as well as a wealth of information including workplace guides for paid leave, stipends, flex spending accounts, and other child care considerations.
The third is to connect with local and state resources to see what avenues may be best for your organization. Through Forsyth Works, powered by Greater Winston-Salem Inc., your business can become a Forsyth Works Employer of Choice to signal your commitment to creating a thriving workplace. Child Care Resource Center is another valuable resource serving organizations and families in our region by matching child care needs with child care services.
The fourth is to lend your voice alongside collaborative efforts like The Pre-K Priority to advocate for our youngest learners and their families. The Pre-K Priority community partners include early childhood education focused organizations, including agencies, non-profits, public and private centers, family child care homes, secondary education institutions, as well as parents. They are creating spaces for important conversations and advocacy work to happen in Forsyth County.
Let’s get to work to secure our future. Early childhood education is everyone’s business.
