On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) said a new Small Business Majority report shows that a majority of small business owners support legislative action to address child care affordability and accessibility.
Shaheen, chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said that the report showed that more than two-thirds of the 566 small business owners surveyed, said that they would support legislative action. Of the respondents, 60 percent said a lack of access to affordable, high-quality child care is a barrier to starting and growing their business.
“This report underscores the urgent need to thoroughly consider and pass legislation that provides additional funding, tax incentives and access to capital to address America’s broken child care system,” Shaheen said. “In the Granite State alone, nearly 1,500 child care slots have been lost since 2019 after dozens of child care centers closed during and after the pandemic. As a longtime advocate for increased support of child care providers and young families, I am laser-focused on working with my Senate colleagues to address the current child care crisis.”
The report also found that 58 percent of the respondents felt that child care issues had negatively impacted their productivity, and 62 percent said child care issues had caused unplanned employee work absences. Thirty percent of the respondents said an employee had quit over child care, 30 percent had turned down a job offer and 27 percent had to turn down a promotion. Sixteen percent of the respondents said they had been forced to fire employees who were routinely absent because of child care issues.
More than half of the respondents said they offer flexible scheduling and remote work, while 50 percent allow employees to bring their child to work, and 30 percent offer on-site child care.
Shaheen said she would be holding hearings on the issue.