Last year finally brought into sharp focus just how important child care is to maintaining a functioning economy. As we noted in our original report on child care, “A Quiet Crisis,” in nearly 80% of Minnesota families, all parents work, and child care issues are the primary cause of absenteeism among American workers. Child care is indeed the infrastructure that keeps America working, and COVID-19 and 2020 made this painfully clear. In this webinar, Marnie Werner, Director of Research at the Center for Rural Policy and Development, provides an update on the number of licensed child care providers and capacity in rural Minnesota as well as suggestions of how rural Minnesota might move forward in solving the child care shortage. In the 2nd half of the webinar, Marnie is joined by two child care providers – a family care provider and a center care provider – to discuss how the pandemic has impacted their business and policies that would be helpful to them right now and in the future. To read the full report, go to www.ruralmn.org/child-care-in-rural-minnesota-after-2020/.
Click here to view or download the slides from the presentation.