- The United States struggles with how to pay for quality child care and early learning programs.
- The cost of care is going up and negatively impacting parents' ability to pay.
- The United States cannot recruit enough child care providers to keep up with demand.
- Child care challenges impact the broader U.S. economy.
On Sept. 10, national economic and child development experts will showcase a bipartisan, data-informed framework, highlight clear federal policy recommendations, and share insights from the recent Economics & Child Care report.
The findings of 20 leading economists, labor market experts, and policy analysts are the basis of the new report. They found the benefits child care gives families, businesses, and our broader economy demand a new level of public investment, grounded in data, economic modeling, and long-term impact.
Speakers will include Rupa Datta, vice president and distinguished senior fellow, NORC at the University of Chicago; Jason Fichtner, senior fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; Chris Herbst, ASU foundation professor, School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University; Susan Gale Perry, CEO, Child Care Aware of America; and Linda Smith, director of policy, Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
A strong child care system is essential to keeping our labor force participation high and ensuring the United States remains competitive in a global economy.
More on the speakers:
Rupa Datta
Vice President and Distinguished Senior Fellow, NORC at the University of Chicago
Rupa Datta is a vice president and distinguished senior fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago. Datta’s major areas of expertise are in understanding the role of education and other social institutions in improving the well-being of individuals and communities and improving the research methods available to advance that understanding. Since 2007, she has led the National Survey of Early Care and Education. For 25 years, she served in leadership roles for the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth. Datta earned her Ph.D. from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Jason Fichtner
Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center
In addition to his role at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Fichtner is also the executive director of the Retirement Income Institute, Alliance for Lifetime Income. He is on the board of directors for the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Fichtner is also affiliated with Stanford University as a policy fellow with the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and a research fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security.
Chris Herbst
ASU Foundation Professor, School of Public Affairs Arizona State University
Chris M. Herbst is a foundation professor in the School of Public Affairs and a faculty affiliate in the School of Social Work in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at ASU. Herbst’s research focuses on the economics of child care and early childhood education, early human capital formation, and social safety net policy. His work studies the impact of policy on the well-being of children and parents, examining its effect on female employment, health trajectories, and children’s cognitive and behavioral development using theoretical and methodological tools from economics and developmental psychology.
Susan Gale Perry
Chief Executive Officer, Child Care Aware of America
Susan Gale Perry is the chief executive officer at Child Care Aware of America. Previously she was chief deputy secretary of opportunity and well-being for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing 15 divisions, including early care and education, child and family well-being, aging and adult services, economic services, and public policy. Perry’s career spans the public and nonprofit sectors, including leadership roles as executive director of the Delaware Office of Early Learning, founding executive director of the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation, senior director at The North Carolina Partnership for Children, and deputy executive director at Child Care Aware of America.
Linda Smith (Moderator)
Director of Policy, Buffett Early Childhood Institute
Linda Smith is the director of policy at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska, with a specific focus on military, rural, and tribal child care, early childhood financing, and engaging the business community in child care initiatives nationwide. Previously, she led the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Early Childhood Development Initiative, served as deputy assistant secretary for early childhood at the Administration for Children and Families, and was executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. She also served as director of family policy at the Department of Defense, where she helped design the military’s child care program. Her career began on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, and she holds a degree from the University of Montana.