Abstract
Child care is a business system that does not work to support its sustainability. The biggest issue facing the industry is the lack of ability to pay its workforce competitively. Literature suggests that child care has always faced workforce challenges and suffered from low wages and benefits. This project looks at the history of child care and the issues that have plagued the industry since the beginning. Reasons for these problems include inability to charge the true cost of care, lack of business and state federal leaders understanding and support, and the lack of societal change in how early education is viewed. The research methodology used is a qualitative survey of professionals currently involved in looking at this issue in New Hampshire and what they feel can be done to motivate leaders to address these problems successfully. This study examined the issues child care leaders see facing child care and the best practices for engaging leaders and policy makers. Results show that wages and benefits, affordability, and availability are key factors contributing to the issues facing child care. The study concludes that the cultivation of a new public and political mindset that views child care as a social good and a strong economic and workforce driver can pave the way to creating legislation that creates a sustainable industry.
Date Created
December 14,2024
Project Type
Capstone
College or School
College of Professional Studies Granite Division
Program or Major
Leadership
Subject
Issues Facing the Child Care Industry
Date
Winter 12-14-2024
Recommended Citation
Ouellette, Lynn M., "The Broken System of Child Care: A Workforce in Crisis" (2024). M.S. in Leadership. 139.
https://scholars.unh.edu/ms_leadership/139