Economics & Child Care: Where Are We Now and Where Do We Go?
July 08, 2025
Child Care Aware of America and the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska cohosted a Roundtable on Economics and Child Care in October 2024, in Omaha. Twenty economists and early childhood experts from across the country gathered to discuss the challenges facing the child care field and make recommendations on how to use what we have learned to improve the child care system.
Participants focused on potential barriers to improving both the supply and demand for child care as well as affordability, while ensuring the highest possible quality for children. Multiple factors were considered, including direct subsidies to families, parental leave, and tax policies.
The Roundtable conversation was framed around five unanswered questions that are barriers to moving forward in building a comprehensive system that truly meets the needs of those who depend on it: families, businesses, providers, and, most of all, the children who receive care. The five questions were:
- Parents and choice: What is affordable for parents and what can we use to measure affordability? How much does cost impact or limit parent choice?
- Regulations, cost, and quality: What is the impact of regulations on cost, specifically ratios and education requirements? What is the role of government in establishing quality program standards and workforce requirements and pay?
- Demand-side and supply-side strategies: What is the impact of public subsidies on the market, and at what scale can they influence cost or availability of care? What approaches can specifically address the supply deficit?
- Who benefits and who pays: What or who does child care impact, and who benefits (parents, businesses, the economy, etc.)? Should child care be a shared responsibility, and if so, by whom (parents, businesses, local, state or federal public funds)?
- Family leave and tax policy: Who benefits from family leave and tax policy? How can tax policy support parent choice?
Throughout the discussion, there were several recurrent themes. Participants focused on the lack of early learning data, the cost, quality, and general shortage of child care, and the challenges faced by the child care workforce.
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