The pandemic had many effects on the workforce with one of the largest being the number of women who left the workforce in 2020.
Prior to the pandemic, women made up 50% of the workforce but because of the lack of childcare, they quit their jobs. They stayed home to take care of the children as more and more childcare facilities closed. In Allen County, there were 60 publicly funded childcare facilities before COVID and there are only 20 at the beginning of the year.
Executive Director of Ohio Means Jobs Allen County Joe Patton explains, “The problem is that the state regulations have made it hard for the mom-and-pop neighborhood daycares where it’s easy for a family to drop their kids off. They trust them, they know them, they’re neighbors in their neighborhood. They don’t have the transportation issues of driving across town to a center. We’ve kind of made it hard for those canters to operate in Ohio.”
State Representative and Ohio Speaker of the House Bob Cupp adds, “We’ve heard from a number of people who are childcare providers who just get bogged down in the amount of paperwork that’s required. So, there is a process underway how to better fund childcare, how to reduce the paperwork and yet be able to have safe, quality childcare for those who want it in order to be engaged in their careers and the job market.”
Statistics are showing that childcare facilities re-opening are starting to show a steady increase since May of 2020.
