Collaboratives
The Case for Childcare: Exploring the business case for care
Services
- Community-centered research
- Cross-sector workshops
- Actionable recommendations
- Insights reports
The problem
In 2022, NationSwell launched the first year of the Case for Childcare Collaborative to explore the business case for supporting working families, the childcare economy, and early childhood education.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects have had profound implications for women in the workforce – millions of women left the workplace in 2020 and over 2 million women have still not returned, many due to the lack of affordable and accessible childcare. The implications of this social and economic issue have exposed a few key dynamics: (1) the US has a broken care system that has disproportionately affected women, especially BIPOC women, and frontline workers and their families (2) women, in particular, mothers, tend to bear the brunt of unpaid caregiving responsibilities, and (3) the economic consequences of this workforce exodus not only affects families and individual households, but business growth and the U.S. economy suffer overall, too.
In partnership with American Family Insurance Corporate Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, Annie E. Casey Foundation, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Pivotal Ventures, and Working for Women, our Case for Childcare Collaborative has spent the last year engaging in research to understand the widespread challenges and opportunities when it comes to making the business case for childcare and the economic impact at large, while also seeking out solutions and examples of what is working.
We believe employers have an important role to play in the child care movement. We believe that care workers, early childhood educators, families, and working parents everywhere deserve more when it comes to access to family-sustaining wages, paid parental leave, and public support, like universal early childhood education.
We are thrilled to continue this work for a second year, doubling down our efforts on employers of frontline, low-wage, and gig workers.
Sources: Brookings, SHRM, US Chamber of Commerce
Current stats
Our collaborative model
Kicking off in fall 2021, our Case for Childcare Collaborative has engaged in a three key workstreams:
Insights
Childcare is an important linchpin for economic growth and a thriving economy. Supporting working mothers and families has manifold benefits including:
Opportunities for impact
When it comes to ways that employers can make a difference, our Collaborative has highlighted five calls-to-action:
Where we’re headed
In December 2023, our Collaborative will be publishing a microsite that includes a deep dive into our research and insights. Please stay tuned!
The second year of the Case for Childcare Collaborative will focus on engaging employers to produce solutions that will help create more access to affordable and high-quality childcare for frontline workers and their families. The second year will be centered around the corporate audience, specifically targeting employers of hourly, gig, and frontline workers to surface the best policies, practices, and innovations that employers can commit to and activate within their workplaces.