Women entrepreneurs and workers need Congress to help with child care | Commentary

Twenty-twenty-three was deemed the ‘Year of the Woman,’ with Beyoncé’s tour, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie which added billions of dollars in economic growth.

But lawmakers still haven’t caught on to the power of women entrepreneurs.

Women entrepreneurs drive great economic value in the United States. By 2019, women-owned businesses represented 42% of all U.S. businesses and generated $1.9 trillion worth of revenue, according to the Small Business Administration.

Today, there are more than 13 million women-owned businesses and counting.

In Kansas, there are 56,107 firms and 9,408, or nearly 6%, are women-owned, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The United States economy loses an estimated $122 billion yearly due to child-care challenges, which is more than double the $57 billion found in 2018, according to the Council for a Strong America.

On average, businesses lose $1,640 a year for each working parent due to lost revenue and hiring costs because of insufficient child care, totaling $23 billion annually. The estimated annual economic impact of the child-care crisis in Kansas is $1 billion.

Here in the Heartland of America, I wanted to hear directly from women entrepreneurs. United WE hosted Town Halls across Kansas and Missouri with women to learn about issues most impacting them.

The No. 1 economic concern is child care. Women repeatedly spoke about their dreams to reach their economic potential and provide for their families, but were concerned about not having the support needed to work and raise their children.

One Kansas woman said, “I left the workforce after I had my second child and didn’t return until my fourth child went to preschool, because it was too expensive to pay for childcare.”

Another said, “I wanted to stay home with my kids so I opened my own day care, but it cost more to run the day care than I made.”

For most families, accessing and affording child care is not attainable. Kansas infant care costs are 29% of female median earnings — one of the highest percentages in the U.S.

This issue is not unique to the Midwest. Access to childcare is a national crisis — a situation at its breaking point before the pandemic and loosely held together with pandemic-era relief funding.

The Department of Health and Human Services sets an affordability benchmark of childcare out-of-pocket costs at no more than 7% of a household’s income, meaning child care is unaffordable for married-couple or single-parent families in every state. Families in rural and urban communities, and across all socio-economic levels, rely on child care.

In mid-January, a $78 billion package was announced to revive an expansion of the child tax credit and expired business breaks, drawing rare bipartisan support in the House and Senate. On January 31, the House passed the bill. It is expected to face steep obstacles in the Senate.

This funding would support more than 220,000 child-care providers across the country serving more than a million children.

If this bill is not passed and signed, it could exacerbate labor shortages and impact women who want to start their businesses or those already in the workforce — from air traffic controllers to teachers. Most importantly, when signed, this bill will provide child-care support for roughly 127,000 children in Kansas.

We must solve the child-care crisis to fix U.S. workforce development and economic growth issues.

Change will not come far or fast enough for women entrepreneurs unless we intentionally focus on creating opportunities for them. To do so, child care is a vital first step.

Congress: Let’s make 2024 an even stronger economic growth year for women and help inspire the future Taylor Swifts, Beyonces, and Greta Gerwigs of the world. Please roll up your sleeves and get to work to pass this bill.

Families: We encourage you to use your voice. Contact your representatives today, and encourage them to get to work and pass this legislation.