The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, through funding from the City of Oklahoma City, partnered with the Coalign Group and the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness to establish a comprehensive data repository and strategy to address child care needs as it impacts the workforce of Oklahoma City. The research encompasses insights into the requirements of large and small diverse businesses across a variety of industries within Oklahoma City while also considering national trends in the child care industry.
Overall, it is estimated that the child care crisis costs the state of Oklahoma $1.2 billion in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue each year. Failure to address the child care crisis now will create further devastating effects with increased child care program closures, increased issues with workforce recruitment and retention, and fewer Oklahomans able to participate in the workforce overall. The sooner governments, businesses, and philanthropy can join together to invest in solving this crisis, the sooner Oklahomans can return to work and invest in their family’s health, education, and future.
Impact of Child Care Issues
Women in the Workforce
Oklahoma City, like many cities across the country, is facing a child care crisis. Inadequate access to quality child care programs negatively impacts Oklahoma City’s economy. It hampers parents’ and guardians’ ability to join the workforce and earn a living to support their families. Many employers across the country have experienced pandemic-related disruptions and difficulty hiring due to issues with child care, and businesses in Oklahoma City are no exception. In 2021, more than one in ten Oklahomans reported having to quit a job, not taken a job, or change jobs due to problems with child care.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the child care crisis, impacting parents’ ability to work and businesses’ ability to recruit and retain a reliable workforce. Child care is a critical economic infrastructure and investing in it creates broad, positive impacts on families, local businesses, and state revenues. While Oklahoma’s GDP and total employment have recovered remarkably well from the pandemic, the economic recovery hasn’t been equitable. Women’s participation in the workforce still considerably lags behind the rate of men. Nationwide, 2.3 million women have left the workforce since the onset of the pandemic, resulting in women’s lowest
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