Behind the scenes of the National Child Care Innovation Summit: A Q&A with the Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Aaron Merchen

Last month, Care.com was honored to attend the inaugural National Child Care Innovation Summit focused on strengthening America's child care infrastructure. Following this historic event, we were privileged to sit down with Aaron Merchen, Senior Director, Early Childhood Education Policy & Programs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, one of the convening organizations of the Summit. Our conversation covered an array of topics including key takeaways from the event and their vision for a brighter future for both families and caregivers.

Before we dive into the key themes of the day, we'd love to share what led up to the National Child Care Innovation Summit. How did this event come to be?

The National Child Care Innovation Summit came about as a response to the critical need for collaboration between the public and private sectors to address the child care crisis in America. At the U.S. Chamber Foundation, we recognized that access to affordable, quality child care is a two-generation workforce issue - essential for today's workforce and critical for shaping tomorrow's. The summit was designed to bring together employers of all sizes, industry leaders, child care providers, advocates, and policymakers to find innovative and actionable solutions to child care challenges across the country.

The guiding theme of the day was private and public sector collaboration to build a stronger child care infrastructure. What kind of public investmentdo you think would enable more employers, including smaller businesses, to offer care benefits? Where do we have to start?

We need to focus on public-private partnerships and innovative local and state solutions that may include new or updated funding models. Kentucky's Employee Child Care Assistance Program, Michigan's Tri-Share program and Noble County Indiana's pilot each show how local governments and businesses can collaborate to create sustainable funding to improve the lives of working parents, bolster communities, and in turn our nation. We should start by encouraging collaboration between business, early child care advocates and state administrators that allow for creative solutions like shared services models or employer-sponsored child care centers.

Secretary Raimondo described the care economy as"work-enabling infrastructure" equating it with roads and broadband which are critical to economic growth. What needs to be done to amplify that message so that care gets the same investment consideration as other infrastructure?

It is imperative that we continue highlighting the economic impact of child care challenges on our communities and country. Our data shows that states can add hundreds of millions to billions of dollars to their economies annually by preventing breakdowns in child care. We believe proactively emphasizing this powerful economic perspective in our communications, policy discussions, and advocacy efforts is key. Additionally, we need to continue to expand engagement of business leaders as vocal advocates for child care investment, demonstrating how it directly impacts workforce productivity and economic growth.

Secretary Raimondo talked about the labor shortage as akey driver of inflation even in this strong economy and noted that growing female labor force participation is a key to solving that challenge. During the pandemic, we saw first-hand how access to child care - or the lack thereof - directly impacts women and work. It's clearly an economic issue yet too many people still see it as an individual family issue. How do we change that perception once and for all?

Through our strategic partnerships, we have demonstrated the gravity of this issue by consistently reporting/highlighting that the lack of access to affordable, high-quality early child care (for 0-3-year-olds) is a dominant factor in employers ensuring stability and productivity in workforce participation. By framing child care in terms of need-for both working families and employers-we see its detrimental impact on our workforce and economy. We must continue to tell stories powered by data that paint a clear picture about the critical needs of our communities nationwide.

For example, my home state of North Carolina could add $5.65 billion annually by addressing and preventing child care breakdowns. Illuminating the direct connection between employee access to child care with a community or state's ability to attract and support businesses can help educate stakeholders and shift perceptions. Together, we should emphasize that investing in child care is investing in our current and future workforce, making it clear that it's a critical economic issue that affects everyone, not just individual families.

Let's talk about the other side of the equation: child care providers. Secretary Raimondo noted that we need todignify the work of child care-for both center-based and home-based providers. What are your recommendations to support and grow this vital workforce?

Supporting and growing our workforce requires innovative and collaborative thinking that is centered on outcomes and the folks impacted by these decisions. This can include:

1. Forging cross-sector partnerships: Bring together businesses, local and state governments, early child care advocates and child care providers to collaborate on solutions designed to problem solve the complex challenges posed.
2. Leveraging business expertise: Lean into the power, knowledge and offerings that businesses of all sizes offer-including child care providers of all sizes-to listen and respond to the needs of working families, employers, and the communities served.
3. Driving innovation: Through the problem-solving power of the business community paired with key stakeholders, develop and test new solutions to this pervasive problem, putting a new lens on to focus more on community impact and strengthening our competitiveness as communities, states, and as a nation.

These collaborative approaches not only support providers but also demonstrate the critical role of child care in our economic infrastructure, benefiting businesses, families, and communities alike.

How does the Chamber of Commerce Foundation plan to both keep these conversations going and move toward action? Do you have any initiatives related to child care you're looking forward to in the second half of this year that you'd like to share?

At the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, we plan to keep these conversations going through continued research, advocacy, and convening of stakeholders to have these crucial conversations. We're committed to continuing our work to drive and raise awareness about the direct economic impact of child care, to develop resources for employers to support their workers' child care needs like our Employer Roadmap, and to foster and expand public-private partnerships to address this crisis including expansion of our regional Early Childhood and Business Advisory Council. Stay tuned later this December as we continue the conversation with the National Business Leaders in Action Summit.

We'll continue to share best practices from innovative employer-led solutions and work to inform policy at both the state and federal levels to support stronger child care infrastructure.

Learn more about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's early childhood education resources here.

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