“Untapped Potential in SC” — new report highlights costly impacts of insufficient childcare

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — According to a new study, South Carolinians pay an average of $763 a month for childcare — per child.

But parents’ bank accounts aren’t the only thing that’s being negatively impacted.

The new report is being released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation — in partnership with the SC Chamber of Commerce and the SC Department of Social Services.

Titled “Untapped Potential in SC,” the study estimates how often parents leave the workforce, opt out of promotions, or miss chances for higher education because they can’t afford quality care for their children.

“We know through research, data, life experiences that child care is not just a family issue. It’s an economic one. The availability, affordability, and quality of early childcare directly impacts workforce participation, productivity, and ultimately the long-term economic status of our state,” says Cynthia Bennett, SC Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Vice President and COO.

Data shows the impact of parents’ decisions in the workforce costs the state’s economy just under $1 billion a year — around 18% of that coming from lost tax dollars due to unearned wages.

The other 82%?? — $818 million a year is lost by employers to childcare related employee turnover and absenteeism.

And for some parents like Leah McCraney, leaving their job to raise their children — versus putting them in daycare — was initially the only option.

“So I have two small children, and at our peak I was paying over $900 a month for our infant, and over $800 a month for our four-year-old at the time, and in total we were paying over $21,000 a year for high quality child care,” she says.

Leah says the decision to stay home was one she never thought she’d have to make.

“But when you’re looking at the books and you can’t make the numbers work, you gotta do what you gotta do,” she says.

One solution that she and other parents find may be effective for South Carolina is known as the “tri-share model” where an employer, the parents, and the state each pay a portion of childcare.

Both Leah, as well as representatives with the SC Department of Social Services believe that poor childcare has negative ripple effects — lasting the child’s entire life, and in turn, creating a less productive adult.

“The formation of characteristics of passion, focus, productivity, problem solving, critical thinking all of that is developed at such a young age, that if you miss that window of opportunity, you might have missed it for the rest of that person’s life,” she says.

For a link to the full report, click here.