The Children’s Foundation of Mississippi and the Mississippi Economic Council have launched a new online dashboard that maps childcare shortages straining Mississippi families and employers.
This new online portal, developed with Elucidata LLC, aims to give business leaders, parents and policymakers clearer insight into how childcare access affects Mississippi’s workforce. The dashboard is available at childrensfoundationms.org/cc-econ-dashboard and will be updated monthly.
Mississippi has about 1,400 licensed childcare centers and more than 170,000 children under age five. Current childcare capacity meets the needs of only sixty-seven percent of those children, with infant care in especially short supply.
A survey of more than 130 Mississippi business leaders found that access to childcare directly influences employee productivity. Cost was the most common reason companies do not offer on-site or nearby childcare, but seventy-one percent of respondents expressed interest in learning more about those options.
Earlier research by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation estimated that childcare challenges cost Mississippi $673 million each year, including $120 million in lost tax revenue and $553 million from employee absences and turnover.
“We continue to see childcare as a barrier to entering into the workforce for many parents,” says Scott Waller, President & CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council. “The Chamber report also pointed out many parents are unable to complete educational and workforce training programs due to childcare issues.”
“These survey findings and resultant online mapping portal can be a planning tool for parents, business and community leaders to learn more about the landscape and availability of childcare and workforce within their county,” says Linda Southward, Executive Director of the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi.