The clear support for early childhood education in Indiana's 2024 legislative session is a win for our state, and we at Central Indiana United Way and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce are committed to building our collective future. We applaud the bipartisan momentum on this issue, which is fundamental to prosperity.
Indiana's legislative and executive branches took significant steps on several fronts. This means increasing workforce training and certification opportunities for early learning professionals, streamlining existing child care regulations, piloting microcentres to expand options in hard-to-reach areas, and expanding pre-school education to schools. It is the creation of an easier path to receiving the benefits. -Ensure improved data transparency and reporting on preschool providers and state investments in early learning.
And all this was done with little or no financial impact on the current national budget.
But while this is a big problem, it's not the end. why? Because early childhood education is a statewide infrastructure issue and must be treated as such.
Thousands of Hoosiers are unable to participate in Indiana's workforce because of a lack of affordable child care options. Indiana ranks as the 18th most expensive state in the nation for infant child care, with the cost for just one child exceeding the average annual tuition at a college in the state.
Indiana also faces a severe shortage of early child care workers, with the child care workforce reduced by nearly a quarter during the pandemic and has yet to fully recover. This not only exacerbates child care access and affordability challenges, but also prevents parents and caregivers alike from acquiring the skills and qualifications they need to thrive in today's labor market.
The link between education and the workforce is central to the Indiana Chamber's economic vision plan for the state. Prosperity for Indiana 2035. Additionally, employers across Indiana consistently cite inadequate child care as a top workforce challenge, and if we fail to address this issue, our strong business climate and future economic growth are at risk. You will be exposed to
Similarly, the United Way of Central Indiana has identified early care and learning as a priority in its goal of ending poverty. Increasing young children's literacy and learning success rates is key to reducing the number of households facing economic insecurity.
In short, Indiana's child care crisis is hampering the ability of individuals, businesses, and communities to thrive. We will strengthen our child care workforce through common sense reforms, strategic investments, and intentional public-private partnerships to ensure that every community and Hoosier in every corner of Indiana has access to quality early childhood care. We must continue to work together to build early learning capacity. and educational options.
Sam Snideman is vice president of government relations for United Way of Central Indiana. Jason Bearce is vice president of education and workforce for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
