According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the share of Americans who were absent from work because of child care difficulties matched the all-time record for August.
At the same time, employment in child care services has not been nearly enough to match the demand, according to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, who highlighted the statistic in a note following Friday’s job report.
The issue largely stems from the havoc created by the pandemic, which prompted many child care facilities to shut down, Pollak said.
Consumer payments for child care are up at least 32% since 2019, a recent Bank of America study found.
Child care advocates say that almost 10% of the state’s day care sites or home-based programs have shuttered since the pandemic.
Persons:
Donald Trump, Sen, JD Vance, Vance, Kamala Harris, Julia Pollak, Natalia Lebedinskaia, ” Pollak, Pollak, “, ”, Trump, Ohio, Charlie Kirk, he’d, Harris, ” Vance, Tim Walz, Hannah Anderson, Kirk, Vance “, ” Anderson
Organizations:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, GOP, Child Care, NBC News, of America, BLS, Economic, of New, Minnesota Gov, Economic Policy Institute
Locations:
Ohio, of New York, United States, Georgia