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Child care is not just about babies anymore
Thank goodness that’s starting to change as information from leading economists (including a Nobel Prize winner), researchers and more than eight university think tanks have findings in alignment saying the interdependence between the economy and quality child care is important and is widely undervalued.
As a banker, I look at long-term and short-term investments. Child care has both long-term and short-term returns. Short term it helps 70 percent of local workforce who depend on it to be productive on the job to keep our businesses productive and enabling Durham County residents to buy homes and pay taxes to support our growing community. The long-term result is not as apparent. It will be seen with the workforce of 2025.
Right now, we have under invested. The short term and long term results teeter on what our business community will do in the next few years. Will they invest more in a child’s life earlier to hedge a future that could widen the skills between the American human capital with competitive countries, such as India and China, both up-and-coming-IT-professional powerhouses? Will our current investment in child care continue to support all sectors of our workforce who rely on child care to work, including the new dearth of adequate infant and toddler care across the state?
For instance, research from institutions, such as Harvard University, the National Economic and Law Center, and Committee for Economic Development all agree that early care and education is a proven strategy that closes the preparation gap for academic achievement and is the foundation to long-term success byway of higher graduation rates, post-secondary education, better paying jobs and more productive adults. And the brain has been proven to grow 90 percent by the age of five. There are brain pathways that won’t get connected by age six without early stimulation. No wonder young children can pick up foreign languages easier than adults.
Each year, the US is losing more manufacturing, technology and biotech jobs to China and India as the multinational companies are finding more innovative, more educated and more productive workers in these countries. We can’t sit on this research, and we can’t rely on local, state and federal government to increase spending on early care and education.
Businesses must take action now to invest in early care and education. Here are some strategies businesses can do today:
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Inform employees about the importance of the first years of life and provide parenting information using a wide variety of communication vehicles, such as bulletin boards, in-house newsletters, electronic networks, or literature in paycheck envelopes.
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Conduct surveys or focus groups to learn about employee needs.
Underwrite some employee child care costs.
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Review policies and practices to consider how to become more supportive to families and, whenever possible, offer flexible work schedules and telecommuting options.
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Invite local speakers to offer parenting seminars at work sites.
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Honor and reward employees who volunteer to provide or improve early childhood programs and services.
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Offer employees access to online parenting information and resources at work.
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Serve on community planning and improvement committees.
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Share expertise (such as accounting skills, management training, public relations, etc.) with early care and education programs, health and family support programs and volunteer to serve on their boards.
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Communicate concerns about the importance of the early years to policymakers.
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Work with other community partners, such as Durham’s Partnership for Children, to expand and improve health services, early care and education, and family support / parent education programs for families with young children.
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Volunteer to repair or renovate early childhood playgrounds and facilities.
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Design and build low-cost early care and education and family center facilities using non-toxic building materials.
Dave Clark serves on Durham’s Partnership for Children’s Board and is Chair of the Community Awareness and Development Committee.
This article appeared in the Herald-Sun, Dec. 4, 2007. It was reprinted with permission from the Herald Sun.
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