Exacerbated by pandemic, child care crisis hampers economy

By SALLY HO and JOSH BOAK
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — The pandemic has made clear what many experts had long warned: The absence of reliable and affordable child care limits the jobs people can accept, makes it harder to climb the corporate ladder and ultimately restricts the ability of the broader economy to grow. Now, each caretaker resignation, coronavirus exposure and day care center closure reveals an industry on the brink, with wide-reaching implications for an entire economy’s workforce. It remains to be seen what survives in the brutal negotiations in Congress for President Joe Biden’s broad family services agenda, but the pandemic is proving to be a make-or-break catalyst for the future of the child care industry.