RALEIGH, N.C. – A new report released today by the North Carolina Department of Commerce and NC Child says helping parents of young children get back into North Carolina’s workforce could add up to $7.5 billion to the state’s GDP, generate up to an additional $13.3 billion in annual economic input, and create up to 68,000 new jobs statewide.
“Quality child care and early childhood education are a triple play, giving children access to a great education, helping parents to join the workforce and allowing businesses to hire high-quality employees,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “This report shows that investing in child care could generate billions for our economy, bring thousands of jobs to North Carolina and help our families and children thrive.”
This new research arrives as many communities across Western North Carolina work to recover from devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, including employment losses and impacts on more than 200 licensed child care providers.
Prepared and released in partnership by the N.C. Department of Commerce and NC Child, the Empowering Work report leverages economic modeling to estimate the economic benefits of increasing employment among working-age adults who are currently out of the workforce.
Other key findings include:
100,000 fewer working-age parents with young children participated in North Carolina’s labor force in 2023 than in 2019
An estimated 14,000 – 31,000 working-age North Carolinians with young children could have potentially returned to the workforce in 2023
“Far too often, a lack of high-quality, affordable child care holds North Carolinians back from the workforce, costing families economic opportunity and creating talent recruitment and retention challenges for employers,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Expanding access to child care is essential to developing the robust workforce North Carolina needs, and critical to helping disaster-impacted communities recover.”
“The Empowering Work report confirms the vital role of child care access in helping parents maintain employment and support their families,” said Erica Palmer Smith, executive director of NC Child. “Greater public investment in early childhood education can help children succeed while enabling a thriving economy.”
The Empowering Work report identifies policy opportunities to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care in North Carolina, through the following significant public investments:
NC Child Care Subsidy Program enhancements, including a statewide floor for subsidy reimbursements
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit expansion
NC Pre-K expansion
Smart Start expansion
Child Care WAGE$ Program expansion
Offering child care professionals free child care tuition through the state’s Child Care Subsidy Program
Connecting aspiring child care professionals postsecondary credential attainment programs, apprenticeships, and tuition assistance
The report also encourages leaders and stakeholders to consider supporting greater employer engagement with child care access solutions, including child care access in local, state, and regional workforce and economic development efforts, and identifying and scaling innovative public-private partnerships that improve child care access.
The Empowering Work report is the latest example of statewide research connecting increased access to child care with greater economic opportunity in North Carolina. In June 2024, the NC Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and NC Child released the Untapped Potential report, which estimated that gaps in North Carolina’s child care system cost North Carolina’s economy about $5.65 billion annually. In 2023, the NC Chamber of Commerce Foundation released survey results indicating that voters from across the political spectrum view taking action to ensure more working families have access to child care as an important priority for North Carolina.
The full report is available online here.