Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com
Jun 14, 2021 | 3:12 PM
(The Center Square) – A worker shortage is affecting many sectors of the Illinois economy, including child care providers, which is driving up costs.
Parents who can afford to go back to the office may have a difficult time finding openings for child care.
According to research by the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, on average, the annual cost of child care for infants is nearly $14,000 and about $10,400 for a 4-year-old. That places Illinois as the 10th most expensive state for child care.
The truth underlying what’s being touted as a “labor shortage” is far more nuanced than glib jabs at the working class, writes Karin M. Norington-Reaves, CEO of Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, in an op-ed.
That research was included in
The Child Care Crisis in Illinois: A Survey of Working Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, conducted by the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute nonprofit research organization. A data review in that report showed the workforce participation rate among women hit its lowest level in more than three decades in January 2021, at 57 percent nationally. One of the most significant findings, according to the researchers, was that 40 percent of working moms who were employed at the beginning of the pandemic were out of work or saw reduced hours as a result of the pandemic.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 498,000, the lowest point since the viral pandemic struck 14 months ago and a sign of the job market’s growing strength as businesses reopen and consumers step up spending.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 92,000 from a revised 590,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims a rough measure of the pace of layoffs has declined significantly from a peak of 900,000 in January as employers have ramped up hiring.
At the same time, the pace of applications is still well above the roughly 230,000 level that prevailed before the viral outbreak tore through the economy in March of last year.
Study: Working mothers hard hit by pandemic-related child care burdens
GRACE BARBIC
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – New research shows pandemic-related child care burdens have magnified economic inequalities for women in the workforce in Illinois.
That research was included in The Child Care Crisis in Illinois: A Survey of Working Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, conducted by the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute nonprofit research organization.
A data review in that report showed the workforce participation rate among women hit its lowest level in more than three decades in January 2021, at 57 percent nationally.