Hey, Kansas employers: Providing child care helps workers — and your bottom line, too
Kansas workers have gotten great news in the last few weeks. In June, Gov. Laura Kelly announced the lowest unemployment rate in history at 2.3%. And on Thursday, she ceremonially signed House Bill 2237, bipartisan legislation that expands tax benefits for employers who make child care available for their employees.
In the last few years, Kansas has been on a rocket ship of economic growth. Now, what’s holding our state back is having enough workers for the jobs available. Leaders in Topeka must do everything we can to clear the hurdles that prevent Kansans from entering the workforce, and one of the biggest barriers is a lack of child care. Six percent of Kansans who don’t work report that it’s because they cannot find affordable child care.
That’s exactly why I championed expanding the child care tax credit in the Kansas Senate this past session. I’ve heard from constituents in every part of my district — from Lenexa to Overland Park to Merriam to Shawnee — that the high price and scarcity of child care makes life harder for working parents. H.B. 2237 can help solve that — but only if businesses do their part.
The child care tax credit has been around for years, but because of strict eligibility standards, most businesses were not able to receive the credit. H.B. 2237 extends the credit to all Kansas businesses, incentivizing employers to begin providing child care services to their employees either through contractors or by providing services in-house. I believe Kansas businesses both large and small should take advantage of this tax credit to provide child care for their employees. Here’s why:
First, it’s good for the bottom line. Providing child care has been proven to help employers attract better job candidates, retain quality employees and create a diverse, engaged workforce. That’s especially important right now. Businesses across the state say they’re struggling to find workers and are too often being forced to decrease hours or slow growth — therefore missing out on potential profits. If those businesses provide child care, they’ll be better able to attract workers from both in and outside of Kansas and speed up growth.
Second, it would make child care more affordable overall. Child care centers across Kansas closed during the pandemic, driving up the price of the child care options left. So while the wealthy can continue to afford child care, middle- and lower-income families are scrambling to find options. That’s not right. Every child, no matter their family’s income level, deserves quality care, and every worker should be able to work. By expanding the options available to workers, businesses can help decrease the price of child care for every Kansan.
And finally, it would create a more equal Kansas. The work of caring for kids is disproportionately placed on women, meaning that when a family can’t find affordable child care, it’s often the mom who’s forced to leave the workforce to stay home. In fact, one economic analysis recently found that “among parents, mothers with children under the age of 13 have had the largest reductions in employment since the start of the pandemic.” H.B. 2237 helps reverse that by working to ensure Kansas women have the opportunity to participate fully in our society and economy.
There’s a big push right now to support child care. Just a few weeks ago, Gov. Kelly announced that her administration is giving the 23,000 child care professionals across the state a $750 to $2,500 bonus to thank them for their hard work. We need to continue building on that, and employers can play an important role in making substantive changes in their industries to support long-term prosperity for workers in our state.