Nebraska’s child care crisis mirrors national gaps affecting millions of families

Child care is supposed to support working families, but in some states a shortage of child care workers is pushing parents out of the workforce

Take Nebraska. 91% of counties here don't have enough licensed child care programs to meet demand

That means long wait lists, last minute call outs from parents who need to take care of kids and lost paychecks

In Nebraska, there are more jobs and people to fill them. The U.S. Chamber says the state has 70 available workers for every 100 open jobs

That makes child care even more important. If parents can't find care, they can't take those jobs

Two-thirds of U.S. states are in the same boat as Nebraska, where jobs outnumber available workers

And when you have that and a lack of child care options, there's a lot of money to lose

An economic ysis by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and First Five Nebraska break this down

They found working parents lose about $489 million in wages each year when child care falls through

Businesses lose another $234 million from lower productivity and turnover. The state loses about million in income tax revenue every year When you add the ripple effect through the economy the total impact tops million in more than 3 jobs

New data shows the COVID-19 pandemic made the problem worse. The latest ysis now estimates

close to $2 billion in lost business output and $1.61 billion in lost labor income

State tax revenue drops by nearly $64 million and the state misses out on about 6,843 jobs that aren't filled

Researchers say more parents are leaving or changing jobs because they cannot find reliable child care

This is not just a Nebraska story. Child care shortages are showing up in every state

The Buffett Early Childhood Institute says nearly 15 million children need child care right now

but the country only has about 10.8 million child care slots. That means the parents of more than 4 million children have no access to child care within a reasonable distance

The Bipartisan Policy Center estimates this gap could cost the national economy up to $329 billion over the next decade

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. Read more right now on SAN.com or download the Straight Arrow News mobile app today