PHOENIX — Arizona parents are no strangers to the high cost of child care. A new analysis by LendingTree finds that Arizona families spend nearly a fifth of their income on child care costs.
The struggle and cost of child care not only is costing families but the Arizona economy, too.
Making ends meet
Ally Lowe has worked as a community health worker at the Lincoln Downtown YMCA for nearly a year.
As a single mom of two elementary-age girls, Lowe has known the high cost of child care in previous jobs.
“Without having to pay for childcare now, I am able to support myself and not be struggling to make ends meet,” Lowe said.
The Valley of the Sun YMCA started offering free child care to both part-time and full-time employees in 2021.
“It helps me just be able to focus and get my work done knowing that they are safe,” Lowe said.
A return on investment
It’s an example of what a new report by Moms First and BCG found: Investing in child care benefits companies.
“There's an ROI when you provide childcare benefits, all the way from 90% to 425%,” Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Moms First, a national advocacy group, said.
Saujani said their report found retaining just 1 percent of employees will cover the cost of providing child care benefits.
“That shows me that it's almost like corporate negligence if you don't fix childcare, you what I mean, in your community or for your workers,” Saujani said.
$1.77 billion loss to Arizona economy
In Arizona, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation with the Arizona Chamber Foundation found a $1.77 billion loss to the Arizona economy every year due to child care issues.
That analysis was done in 2021.
“People can’t show up to work,” Danny Seiden, President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce said. “They’re picking between being a parent and being an employee.”
Seiden said some Arizona companies like Intel and Amazon offer childcare help options ranging from subsidizing care, offering on-site and emergency childcare options and flexible scheduling.
“They know that the value of a productive employee is worth that - it's worth that investment,” Seiden said.
In meetings with chamber members, Seiden says the topic of employee retention can lead to questions on how a company is supporting parents.
“For those who haven’t gotten there yet I think they’re figuring it out - why they’re losing employees and what they can do to keep some of their best ones as well,” Seiden said.
For Valley of the Sun YMCA, covering childcare for their employees has meant higher retention for both their part and full-time employees.
“We’ve seen retention go up about 28 percent,” Kirsten Gray, Vice President of Childcare for the Valley of the Sun YMCA said.
Gray notes how those employees have also grown in their career with The Y.
“We've had more part-time employees become full-time employees because they're committed to The Y. And not just because of the work we do but because of their benefits and their compensation.”
It’s the return on investment that Moms First found that Saujani said employers should consider.
“We still see childcare as a social issue and not an economic issue,” Saujani said. “To me, it's of the same importance as AI, right, we need to put the same amount of investment into it. So to me, that is why it's important for this to be talked about and seen in business terms so we're no longer waiting for either elected officials or business leaders to just do the right human thing.”
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