Giving Compass' Take:

• Cindy Cisneros at The Hechinger Report discusses how breakdowns in child care arrangements may cost U.S. businesses billions annually in employee absences. 

• How can funders help to identify effective, scalable solutions in universal child care? What level of government should take on the challenges of child care? 

• Learn about the potential for child care as an economic driver. 

Americans are going to work. Since the summer of 2011, nearly eight million more Americans in their “prime” working years, between the ages 25 and 54, have gained employment. If Americans wish to further foster this progress, it is important to understand the critical role that child care plays in boosting our nation’s economy.

One sign of how important child care is for employers and employees alike is that, by one estimate, businesses nationwide lose more than $4.4 billion a year due to employee absences resulting from breakdowns in child care arrangements.

Parents who struggle to find reliable child care may be limited in the hours they can work or the jobs they can perform. And research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that lowering the costs of child care paid by parents significantly increases the likelihood that a mother will work.

Mothers, who typically bear the brunt of parental child care responsibilities, are a significant part of our workforce. Across the United States, more than 18 million families with children under the age of 12 include a mother who works or is looking for work. Even among mothers with small children, most participate in the workforce. Last year, roughly two-thirds of women with children under the age of 6 were in the nation’s labor force, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read the full article about child care in America by Cindy Cisneros at The Hechinger Report.