“Micro” businesses are leading the way in offering onsite child care, according to a new study from Fort Worth-based Best Place for Working Parents. The number of overall businesses offering the option also is increasing.
South Carolina’s insufficient supply of affordable, quality child care leaves rural parents with few options, making it harder for rural communities to thrive, experts say.
Data collected before the pandemic shows that 42 percent of South Carolinians live in child care deserts — areas that have no child care providers or where there are more than three children in the community for every available licensed care slot.
The lack of affordable, accessible and quality child care costs the state up to $1.4 billion a year, according to a report released Thursday from the nonprofit Council for a Strong America. It came as a new legislative committee focused on child care in South Carolina met for the first time Thursday in Columbia. Lawmakers say one of their primary concerns is how child-care problems affect South Carolina’s workforce.