Opinion | Child care costs hobble Michigan families. Here’s one suggestion

The best weapon against poverty is a good-paying job. Employers who have these jobs available will tell you the biggest barriers to obtaining them are skill level, reliable transportation – and child care.

Before COVID-19, we were at full employment with rising wages as employers were desperate to keep talent and willing to train anyone who would walk through their doors. There was a capable workforce out there – but many would not or could not seek employment because child care wasn’t available, or if it was, it cost too much.

The child care crisis has been magnified during the pandemic. As workplaces and schools have been shut down, lower-income workers have been disproportionately harmed because industries like retail, restaurants and hospitality have been hardest hit. Women have suffered more than men – nationwide, about 2.4 million women have left the workplace since last February compared to less than 1.8 million men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Child care centers themselves also have been hurt during the pandemic due to closures and staff shortages.

When families sit down at the kitchen table to figure out their budgets, child care – which can easily exceed $10,000 per year per child – is a massive factor. It often determines whether both spouses will enter the workforce, or if it makes more financial sense for one to stay home. For single parents, the financial consequences are even more magnified.

Simply put – if we can come together as a state and make child care more affordable, we can help more Michigan parents build better lives for themselves and their children.

Throwing more money at the problem is not going to work – particularly if it’s attempted through one-time, unsustainable subsidies that only address the short term and leave even greater needs when the subsidies run out. What Michigan needs is a sustainable solution that will make affordable child care more available for years to come.

I worked to include one such solution in the current state budget -- a child care facilitator pilot project called the MI Tri-Share Child Care Program. It involves employers, employees and the state splitting the costs of child care with coordination provided by localized facilitator hubs. The program will recruit and partner with employers to help employees find affordable child care.

The Michigan Women’s Commission expects to select three pilots with grants of up to $300,000 per site to cover costs between March 15 of this year and mid-March of 2022.

I am encouraged that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer already sees the value of this pilot program. Her recent budget proposal would boost funding for the program from the current $1 million to $2.2 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

This model with a facilitator working with providers, employers and families could be the game-changing idea we need to adequately fund child care and make it affordable. The next step will be to find ways to get more child providers open in more parts of the state. This will require streamlining and simplifying regulations, and encouraging more people to get in the field.

The high cost of child care is a roadblock to prosperity for many Michiganders. I am confident this obstacle can be overcome by engaging employers, and with state government working as a partner – not getting in the way