Employer Childcare Fair Planned For October 11th

(KNSI) – The United Way of Central Minnesota is helping area businesses craft a solution to the childcare crisis.

Director of Financial Stability Alexis Lutgen says the issue has been under study since early 2020, and there is no easy answer.

“If there are employers that are interested in partnering with a local childcare to secure some slots for their employees or if they would like to go to the extreme of building a childcare facility on site we will have employers there that are already doing some of that because we have them in our area that have stepped up to the plate.”

The Child Care Fair is scheduled for October 11th inside the American Heritage National Bank Conference Room. It is aimed at businesses themselves, not individuals.

Lutgen says right now no one is happy with the current situation, parents, workers, or businesses.

“Both looking at it from the cost for the parents, but also those that work in that field…It’s not a very high-wage workplace, but [it’s] critical work and critical care for our youngest community members. We are currently in the United Way service area experiencing roughly a 5,300 childcare spot deficit.”

Lutgen says the deficit calculation assumes that every child would need child care at some point. The younger the child, the harder it is to find someone to look after them. She says she knows of parents who are attempting to plan their family around when a childcare slot is expected to come available. For many people, it is not for at least three years from now.

Lutgen says the problem affects all parents of all income classifications.

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