The COVID-19 public health crisis has rapidly shifted how we do business. Seemingly overnight, employers adapted the workplace to keep their employees healthy and follow public health guidance. Video communication was implemented, commutes changed, and working parents faced the reality of full-time childcare and full-time work. Many businesses moved all or part of their workforce to remote work, some were forced to closed operations, and still others were deemed essential. Businesses of every size and industry have been impacted by this pandemic, so employers have had to figure out how to operate a business in an entirely new landscape.

Prior to the pandemic, limited access to affordable, high-quality childcare had significant recruitment and retention costs for employers. As childcare programs have closed or are operating at limited capacity, the impact of this lack of childcare options on employers is even greater. In the fall of 2019, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation conducted a series of surveys, which led to the creation of four reports, referred to as Untapped Potential, to better understand how childcare challenges affect parents’ participation in the workforce, affect employers’ ability to recruit and retain skilled workers, and impact state economies.

Now, several months after this study, working parents are facing new, complicated childcare challenges caused by COVID-19. Parents are trying balance their dual roles with limited to no access to formal childcare or family, friend, or neighbors to help, making childcare an important need for every employer and state to prioritize in their return to work plans.

With that in mind, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation has launched a new longitudinal study to understand how childcare challenges affect working parents and their employers in the unprecedented times of COVID-19.

Click here to see the survey findings:

Our nation’s long-term well-being depends on a child care industry that works for every family. In addition to the proven benefits of high-quality child care to a child’s learning and healthy development, access to care is an
essential pillar of America’s labor market and economy. Sixty-seven percent of children under age 6 in the United States have all available parents in the labor force, which means millions of American workers rely on child care just to be able to go to work each day. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed an already-struggling child care industry to the brink of collapse.

Dedicated relief through a Child Care Stabilization Fund will enable states to provide grants to struggling child care providers to help shore up the market and ensure parents have access to the care that will allow
them to return to work.

A new survey conducted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Morning Consult finds that child care in the United States is still necessary for parents to work, even amidst changing work environments. But child care is difficult to find and in many circumstances, closed indefinitely. This leaves parents who are working at home on their own to juggle their work and caregiving responsibilities. At the same time, frontline or essential workers who need formal child care face widespread program closures which can prevent them from finding the care they need.  

Work and the Need for Care. Child care is essential for parents of young children if they are to work. Of parents surveyed, 56% said they or someone in their household is now working either remotely or at home. Only 14% represented a household where nobody has yet experienced a change in their work situation. About half (49%) of parents said they or someone in their household can care for their children during this time. The widespread change in work environments does not change the fact that many parents of young children need child care:  

• 43% of those working remotely said they currently need child care. 
• 49% of those working in-person need formal child care amidst COVID-19,  
• only 8% saw no change in their previous child care provider’s availability. 
• Of parents currently working in-person, just 32% had someone in their household able to care for their child(ren). 

Parents’ Caregiving Activities. Parents who are able to care for their children at home use different  approaches to balance their work and caregiving responsibilities and deal with widespread child care program closures (more on this below).  

• One-third (34%) of parents who are working remotely are alternating work hours with someone else in their household to care for their children.  
• Additionally, 21% of parents still working in-person are reducing their hours in order to care for their children. 
• Some parents are working outside of normal business hours (10%) to care for their children. 
• Additionally, parents are taking paid (8%) and unpaid leave (11%) to provide child care for their children amidst COVID-19. 

Search for Care. As noted, about half (49%) of parents say they or someone in their household is able to care for their children in absence of a formal child care arrangement. For the parents who still sought a formal care arrangement, options are hard to find. 

• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of parents had difficulty finding child care, including 33% who found it very difficult.  
• The percentage of parents who found it very difficult to find care nearly doubled from our previous survey, less than 6 months ago, when 18% found it very difficult to find care.  
• Additionally, about half (47%) of parents are concerned they won’t be able to afford child care when they can return to the workforce.   

Provider Closures. This survey highlights one of the main reasons child care might be hard to find right now – widespread program closures. 

• Just 22% of essential workers said they have been able to continue using their previous care arrangement during this time. 
• Across all provider types, 60% of programs are fully closed and not providing care to any children at the moment. 
• The most likely providers to remain open are family child care homes, 28% of which remain open for parents without any scheduling changes. 
• Just 10% of larger centers and 16% of smaller centers remain open without scheduling changes.  
• For parents whose program had closed, 42% of parents were still paying their provider either in full or partially. Of those who are still paying their provider, 21% continue to pay to ensure their spot remains upon reopening. 

Child Care as an Essential Service. There is a lot of confusion around the country about if—and how—child care programs should remain open to support the economy, particularly for workers who are on the frontlines of this pandemic.  

• When asked if child care is an essential service that should remain open, the majority (42%) responded in the affirmative, while about 35% do not see child care as essential, and still about a quarter are unsure.  
• About a quarter of parents said they were not aware of any plan in their state for child care operations, but the good news is that of those who did know the plan, the vast majority (82%) were supportive of their state’s decisions. 

When it comes to providing financial support to keep the child care market stable, parents believe federal and state governments have the highest level of responsibility (57% combined). Parents also believe federal and state governments have the greatest responsibility when it comes to providing child care assistance for essential workers, followed by the belief that it is each parent’s responsibility (25%). 

 Returning to Child Care. When thinking about the ability to go back to work and place child(ren) back in child care, the survey illuminates what providers could be doing to address concerns parents have about re-opening. Specifically, three quarters of parents are concerned about their child’s potential exposure to COVID-19 when they go back to child care. Further, providers might consider sharing more information about their continuing operations, as around half of parents (46%) are concerned that their current or previous provider would no longer be open and 37% are concerned that their child’s teacher won’t be the same.  

Both the child care market and parents with young children are struggling to cope with the changes to society intended to stop the spread of the virus including working from home and the closure of child care programs. The findings in this survey illuminate how parents are dealing with child care in the time of the coronavirus and offer lessons for the market when it is able to re-open.   

The survey was conducted from March 31 – April 4, 2020, among a national sample of 800 parents of children under the age of 5 who were employed and paid for child care within the last three months, but whose situations may have changed recently as direct result of COVID-19. The interviews were conducted online. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 

Read more from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s survey, conducted with Morning Consult, on their website here.

National poll from Save the Children Action Network and Child Care Aware® of America shows 87 percent of Americans support federal funding to help child care centers pay staff and rent

Today, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) and Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) announced the results of a national survey that identified registered voters’ overwhelming support for federal funding to address the worsening child care crisis as a result of COVID-19. This groundbreaking poll, commissioned by SCAN and CCAoA, highlights the child care industry’s vital importance to American families and the American economy. 

“In these unprecedented times, we must listen to voters to better understand what American families – the backbone of our country – need. These poll results illustrate that voters across party lines agree that the child care industry should be prioritized in coronavirus relief efforts. With nearly nine in ten voters supporting specific targeted assistance for the child care industry to ensure it survives this pandemic, it’s clear voters understand that child care and the economy are co-dependent,” said Mark Shriver, President of SCAN. “The child care industry will be an essential component of the economic recovery when it comes to getting workers back to their offices once this pandemic ends. That’s why SCAN and our 350,000 grassroots advocates nationwide are working with policymakers to invest in kids and ensure the child care industry isn’t forgotten. American voters must be heard.”

“We are hearing from child care providers across the country who are laying off staff and don’t know how they will pay their rent and utility bills because their programs are only supported by monthly tuition payments,” said Lynette Fraga, Executive Director of CCAoA. “It’s heartening that the vast majority of Americans support providing financial assistance to the child care heroes who enable our frontline heroes to do their jobs. CCAoA is working closely with Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and other partners to ensure that the child care industry recovers, that federal and state policy efforts reflect the needs of providers and families, and that the system returns stronger than it was before.” 

“Across party lines and ideological persuasions, voters are sending a clear signal to Congress that ensuring access to quality child care must be part of any first steps to reopening the American economy,” said Michael Meyers, President of TargetPoint Consulting. “They recognize the threat to child care is real and strongly support specific targeted assistance to the child care industry.  Support for bold policies is overwhelming, bipartisan and crosses generations and economic classes.”

Key Poll Takeaways

• 87% support providing enough federal assistance during the crisis to ensure current child care providers are able to make payroll and pay other expenses, such as rent and utilities
  • A 59% majority strongly support such funding
  • Support crosses partisan lines with support from 82% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats 
    
• Four in five support the child care industry receiving targeted financial assistance from the federal government to address the impact of COVID-19
  • 50% strongly support such targeted assistance
    
• 84% of lower and middle-income voters – those hit hardest by the economic upheaval – support this assistance
  • Support crosses partisan lines with seven in ten Republicans, nine in ten Democrats and three in four Independents in support
    
• 79% support the expansion of the child care industry to serve areas where child care resources are limited or non-existent
  • 50% strongly support such an expansion
    
• 78% support the federal government reimbursing essential workers for child care costs paid during the coronavirus pandemic
  • A 53% majority strongly support such reimbursements 
    
• 78% support federal assistance to increase pay for child care workers who continue to offer services for children of front line workers, despite increased risks and strains on the system
  • 50% strongly support such increased pay
    
• 77% support emergency funding to provide child care in the event of a national economic crisis – like the coronavirus 
  • 50% strongly support such emergency funding

Poll Methodology

This survey was jointly commissioned by SCAN and CCAoA and generously funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Conducted April 11th to 15th, 2020 by TargetPoint Consulting and GQR, the survey encompassed 1,200 interviews conducted from a national sample of registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.8%. To read a full analysis and greater detail on the methodology, please see a joint memo from TargetPoint Consulting and GQR.

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Save the Children Action Network was created in 2014 as the political advocacy arm of Save the Children, to be the political voice for kids. We work to ensure that the issues critical to children’s lives and futures are given top priority by our elected leaders, building bipartisan support to make sure every child has a  strong start in life. In particular, we advocate for high-quality early learning and care for children in the U.S., and on issues impacting the world’s most vulnerable children.  

Child Care Aware® of America is our nation’s leading voice for child care. CCAoA works with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. CCAoA leads projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, offers comprehensive training to child care professionals, undertakes research, and advocates for child care policies that improve the lives of children and families.

Read more from SCAN and CCAoA online here.