NJBIA is recommending to an Assembly committee today that the state explore existing childcare investments to determine their effectiveness for an industry that continues to struggle in New Jersey.
NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Althea D. Ford told the Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee in written testimony that an analysis in existing investments recently announced by Gov. Phil Murphy could inform future investments to help improve what she calls an “unsustainable model.”
“Governor Murphy noted that the Administration has invested more than $1 billion in the childcare sector to date,” Ford said. “Yet, the cost of childcare is still high, and childcare wages are still low.
“An analysis should be conducted on the specific beneficiaries of these investments and their efficacy in addressing industry concerns and pain points. Such an analysis would help to inform decisions about future investments and ensure that state funds were effectively deployed to support this critical industry.”
Ford’s written testimony will be followed by verbal testimony today at a committee hearing this morning to discuss the conditions of the childcare industry in New Jersey, as well as its sustainability and expansion.
Ford explained that the business community in New Jersey has a “vested interest in ensuring a robust and diverse childcare system,” as they offer a vital service to working parents and because childcare providers are also businesses.
At the same time, Ford said, the current childcare economy in New Jersey is an “unsustainable model.”
“The cost of childcare is high, and childcare has workforce challenges due in some part to low worker wages,” Ford said. “With New Jersey’s affordability issues at the center of many casual conversations as well as the subject of public initiatives like Stay NJ, it is important to assess how the State is strategically addressing affordability in this space, as it has significant implications for the state’s economic outlooks.
“If a workforce cannot be properly supported with consistent, reliable, accessible and affordable childcare options, it is the state’s economy that will suffer. Working parents, and disproportionately women, will be forced to opt out of the workforce to care for their children, exacerbating already existing workforce shortages, particularly in industries that are predominantly occupied by women, such as childcare and healthcare.”
Some other solutions and considerations offered by NJBIA to create a more sustainable model of childcare includes the legislative support of:
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Bill A-974/S-2240 (Munoz, Sampon; Ruiz, Vitale) which provides corporation business tax and gross income tax credits for certain employer-provided childcare expenditures;
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Bill A-2242/S-3382 (Lopez/Freiman/Pintor Marin/Vitale), which allows a gross income tax credit for certain childcare staff and registered family day care providers.
Ford also recommended strategic investments in a childcare ecosystem that utilizes the existing infrastructure of licensed and community-based childcare providers and the rejection of costly and unnecessary regulatory requirements.
To see Ford’s full written testimony, click here.
