HELENA — Lack of access to childcare in the Treasure State has been a topic of discussion for years.
An estimated 66,000 Montana parents with young children are still not actively fully participating in the workforce due to this issue, according to Zero to Five Montana.
"Childcare is a vital and important topic in Montana because the state is experiencing a labor shortage," Amy Watson, Montana Department of Labor & Industry chief economist, says. "We have more job openings than we do unemployed individuals who are looking for work."
For many parents of young children, if they want to work in Montana, they need childcare, and without it, some parents cannot take part in the labor force.
Businesses and various organizations gathered in Helena to discuss methods of bridging both the gaps in childcare and parents in the workforce.
Watson says, "The purpose of this forum is to generate ideas, talk about solutions, and hopefully engage those employers as a part of that solution."
Employers met with one another in small groups and round tables, and those discussions led to one answer: the problem cannot be fixed with one solution.
Businesses would need to explore many options, such as flexible work schedules, paid parental leave, onsite childcare, or even improved financial resources to help curb the cost of childcare.
According to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry, a family of four with two children spends about a quarter of their combined annual salary on childcare, that's an estimated $25,000 every year.
"Supply meets about 46 percent of estimated demand, and that shortage has been closing a little bit over the last couple of years by a couple of percentage points, but overall, it remains a significant issue," Watson says.
Although there are no concrete solutions, data and discussions at the forum show child care apprenticeship programs are a push in the right direction.
