American workers are increasingly missing hours of work because of childcare problems.
The high cost of childcare has been well-documented: Its impact on the wallets of working parents, the careers of many women and the time workers spend finding quality childcare. But a new monthly index aims to not only show how women and men lose out financially due to childcare options, but quantify the number of working hours lost, demonstrating the high productivity cost to businesses that don’t offer reliable solutions.
KPMG, the professional services firm, recently released the “Parental Work Disruption Index,” building on previously unpublished data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that breaks down the loss in working hours, as well as yearly and lifetime wages, that stem from a lack of childcare access. Using a 12-month trailing average, the index also measures the change in the number of both male and female workers who have lost hours or shifted into part-time work due to childcare gaps since 2019.
“We know childcare costs prevent labor participation and that the childcare problem really hits both sides of the [gender] equation,” says Mathew Nestler, senior economist at KPMG US and author of the index, which the firm plans to update monthly. “But to what degree are childcare problems affecting working Americans?”
The index also quantifies the total working hours lost based on employees shifting their schedules, a key metric in quantifying productivity costs to businesses.........