Letter: We’ll Need to Come Together to Solve Workforce and Child Care Challenges

February 26, 2024

Original coverage by Shaw Local News Network.

Letter to the Editor

As the executive director of the Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, I see the struggles that local employers face with hiring and retention.

Part of this challenge stems from the insufficient supply of affordable child care. Child care and business success go hand in hand: Parents can’t work without child care and businesses can’t succeed without productive employees.

Locally, only 32% of young children have access to a licensed child care center or home, according to Birth to Five Illinois, leaving many parents scrambling to secure high-quality care for their young children. That’s part of the reason I work to solve our local child care issues, partnering with other local civic and private industry leaders. The voices of business executives about this essential aspect of building the workforce are powerful in helping shore up an essential element of a strong economy. After all, Illinois loses $4.9 billion annually from the lack of infant and toddler child care, according to ReadyNation, a business leader group of which I am a member.

Private industry can help fix these problems with internal benefits like more flexible schedules, benefit plans that incorporate child care needs or – for some – even on-site child care. But businesses can’t do this alone; policymakers at the local, state and federal levels need to drive investments and structural solutions to the child care crisis.

Kris Noble

Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director