Across Southwest Michigan, the lack of accessible, affordable child care has become a major barrier to workforce participation and regional growth. With capacity meeting just 42% of local demand, many parents are forced to reduce hours, leave the workforce, or forgo employment altogether. The result is a ripple effect that reduces productivity, strains household finances, and costs Michigan an estimated $2.88 billion annually.
This is not just a local issue. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, nearly two-thirds of parents of young children have missed work in recent months because of child care disruptions, and one in seven have left a job entirely. As the data shows, solving the child care gap is not only a family priority, it’s an economic one.
Yet, despite the clear need for more providers, child care businesses face significant barriers to opening or expanding operations.
What’s standing in the way? Major challenges include:
- Qualified Staff: Despite the often staggering costs associated with child care, wages for providers have not kept pace with inflation. This has deterred many from entering the profession and makes retaining staff difficult.
- Licensing Requirements: While designed to ensure a child’s safety, licensing requirements also limit growth. Nearly every aspect of a facility—from square footage per child to door size and layout—is regulated. Facilities that fall short must invest heavily in updates, often at costs comparable to building purpose-built facilities.
- Business Support: For many smaller providers, tight margins make it challenging to hire additional support staff. This means owners must become a jack-of-all-trades, managing every aspect of their business–including HR, enrollment, licensing, and accounting.
To address these barriers, the Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber has partnered with the Kellogg Foundation, Pulse, and the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) to improve child care access and affordability across Region 8. With their help, we’ve established countywide child care coalitions in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren, bringing together multi-sector stakeholders to identify solutions and drive progress.
Together, we’ve been able to:
- Expand provider capacity by connecting providers to the Child Care Back Office program.
- Retain slots in our region by assisting retiring providers with selling their business.
- Lower costs on families by helping employers implement programs like Tri-Share.
- Facilitate Access to Care by connecting current and prospective providers to licensable sites and facilities around the region.
Are you a provider, employer, or parent looking to get involved? Here’s how you can help:
- Explore how you can support your employees: Programs like Tri-Share offer opportunities for even small employers to help offset the cost of care for their employees.
- Advocate for child care providers in your community: Changes to zoning, or state level policies related to licensing make a difference in increasing access to care.
- Join our coalition: Make your voice heard and help us increase child care access and affordability in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren County.
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