Child care is infrastructure

Late last month, the Cumberland County Commission for Women hosted a Child Care Town Hall. More than 100 business leaders, elected officials, day care center owners, CEOs, and employers convened at the Members 1st Federal Credit Union headquarters in Enola to tackle one of PA’s most persistent barriers to economic growth—the lack of accessible, affordable child care, and I was proud to be one of the event organizers and a panelist.

Roads, bridges, and broadband are all heralded as the backbone to a strong economy, but what about child care? What happens when parents can’t work? Without it, businesses can’t grow and children miss out on the early learning that lays the foundation for future success. Child care is infrastructure.

According to the PA Chamber’s 2025 Keystone Initiative, the lack of affordable child care costs PA $6.65 billion in lost wages, productivity, and revenue. The numbers tell the story: PA parents devote 18.6% of their salaries to defray child care costs; PA ranks 37^th nationwide in affordability of child care; and 33% of PA parents report that child care problems impacted their job.

Town Hall panelists included Michael Wilson, president & CEO, Members 1st Federal Credit Union; Ryan Unger, president & CEO, Harrisburg Regional Chamber/CREDC; Robert Carl, Jr., president & CEO, Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce; and Katie Caples, ECHO Director, Community Connections for Children, all with one goal in mind—to find solutions to a public problem with public consequences.

Signature Staffing has been on the front lines of this crisis for the past 27 years. We work with talented job seekers and clients who want to grow their companies. Too often promising candidates turn down life-changing jobs because their child care arrangements fell through. And employers lose out on the talent they desperately need.

“As a father to an energetic toddler and the co-chair of the PA Early Learning Investment Commission, I truly understand the challenges we’re facing. Without child care, many Pennsylvanians leave the workforce. It is my hope that with targeted investments and coordination with government agencies, we can solve our child care crisis,” said Lt. Governor Austin Davis in opening remarks via a video message.

“We surveyed our associates and asked what they need to be successful and serving our members. The number one issue was access to child care. We found great partners to work with to accommodate our associates. It’s bigger than an employer issue; it’s bigger than a government issue; it’s bigger than just a provider issue,” says Michael Wilson, president & CEO, Members 1st Federal Credit Union.

“As business leaders, we have an obligation to address those needs of our members. Since 2019 – 2020, we have lost 20% of our child care facilities,” says Robert Carl, Jr., president & CEO of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and the driver of a Letter to Members of the General Assembly that has 72 chambers of commerce signed requesting legislators to actively enact solutions to help solve the child care teacher shortage and help working families find child care.

“Our labor force is not growing at the rate of our economy. There is a holy trinity that impacts people entering the workforce: child care, transportation, and housing. Fifty percent of our members say child care is a critical issue affecting them; 4 out of 5 say it affects their hiring,” says Ryan Unger, President & CEO, Harrisburg Regional Chamber/CREDC.

To help be part of the solution, Signature Staffing reached out to Best Friends Day Care to discuss what a partnership might look like. We asked if we could reserve several spots in the event a job seeker’s child care falls through. The plan? To be the bridge to ensure a talented worker can take advantage of a new position. We would cover the costs of child care for the first few weeks and arrange for the employee to pay it back in smaller, affordable increments. It’s a win-win.

Katie Caples, ECHO Director at Community Connections for Children (CCC), shared employer solutions and opportunities for funding support. In its first year, Every Child Has Opportunities (ECHO) leading organizations CCC and York County Economic Alliance have awarded over $1.6 million in grants and forgivable loans to early childhood education providers to expand capacity and/or quality of education. And over $260,000 in workforce attraction and retention efforts through the ECHO Teacher Aide Program. More than 2,800 children are impacted and 850 new children enrolled.

We invite every business owner, CEO, HR director, and working parent to join the child care conversation and be part of helping Pennsylvania reach its full economic potential.

Pamela Hill is CEO and owner of Signature Staffing in Lemoyne, PA. She can be reached at [email protected].