Ninety-five percent of U.S. childcare providers are small businesses Goldman Sachs’ new report, outlines several ways Congress can reform the Small Business Administration (SBA) to aid companies suffering in the current economic climate.
Employees at small businesses are having a tough time finding the childcare they need to be able to work, due in part to obsolete government programs, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs.
Of the 10,000 respondents polled in From Pandemic to Prosperity: Bipartisan Solutions to Support Today’s Small Businesses, more than half said they or their employees had issues finding childcare during the pandemic. Only 6% of employees at companies with fewer than 50 employees had access to childcare benefits, and just 30% of working parents with children under the age of six had access to childcare facilities, relying most often on the help of friends or family. The study notes that the impact of this gap in childcare has taken an enormous economic toll on businesses – between $20 and $31 billion during the past ten years.
“Small businesses add to the economic vitality of our country, but outdated policies are holding them back,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon told Business Wire. “Our new report shows bipartisan solutions, such as investing in high-quality childcare, will advance economic growth.”
In the report, Goldman Sachs concludes with a plea to the government to create better public policies that support childcare for small business employees. The report argues that the available tax credits, such as the Employer-Provided Child Care Credit (EPCCC), are unfeasible for small businesses that can’t afford to spend enough to be eligible for the credit. As many small businesses cannot provide their own childcare options, the report suggests that government facilitates the pooling of small businesses to contract with childcare providers in their area, providing more customers for other local small businesses and creating an infrastructure of support for employees with children.
