Employer Support Matters
Supporting parents helps build a strong future workforce
- Family-friendly policies help with employee recruitment
- Family-friendly policies help with employee retention
- Child care challenges impact employment, especially for mothers
- Child care challenges disproportionately impact lower-wage employees (of which women of color are disproportionately represented)
- COVID-19 has amplified child care challenges for most families
More than 86,000 children enter kindergarten each year in New Jersey and too many of them are not “ready” to learn. Parents need child care in order to work, children need access to high-quality child care to help them learn and develop. Decades of research shows that the brain is developing the fastest during the early years (birth to five), which sets a foundation for all future learning including school readiness!
Business leaders can contribute to transforming this reality – whether through community involvement or using their voice to advocate in Trenton and statewide.
New Jersey Stats
75.3%
Percent of NJ mothers with children under age 6 who are working
69.3%
Percent of NJ children under age 6 with all parents working
419,743%
The number of NJ children under age 6 with all parents working
$24,491%
Average annual household expenditures on child care for NJ households with children under age 5
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Table 2301, Table B23008, 2021 American Community Survey, 1 Year Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Household Pulse Survey, November 2-14, 2022, Table 2. Paying for Childcare and Cost in the Last 7 Days, by Select Characteristics (annualized)