A statewide survey of business executives demonstrates their deep recognition of the ways that child care challenges affect employees and their companies’ own bottom line, as well as solid backing for the public-policy moves necessary to help solve these problems. 

In fact, 91.5% of respondents voiced support for “greater public investments in high-quality child care and early childhood education” to boost workforce stability and quality, according to ReadyNation Illinois’ survey.

“These findings make it clear: Business leaders want to protect and strengthen vital services for young children and their families — and they consider this a top economic priority,” said Rudy Valdez, President of the economic-development group SWIFTT Inc. (South West Ideas for Today & Tomorrow) in Rockford.

Valdez is an 11-year member of ReadyNation, which enlisted the national Zogby Analytics polling firm in conducting the survey of 400 Illinois employers and managers. Results were released at a Rockford news conference.

Among the poll’s findings:

• More than four out of five business leaders reported seeing employees struggle with finding affordable, stable child care.
• Among other negative outcomes, these challenges resulted in the loss of work hours (reported by 66.4% of respondents), lost wages (58.3%), and outright job losses (37.3%).
• Two-thirds of executives said child care issues led to reduced business productivity.

In addition, about 80% of business leaders noted difficulties in hiring employees with the necessary job skills; 95% reported their companies spending more to recruit well-qualified candidates than in previous years.

Decades of research have demonstrated that high-quality early childhood services can lay a skills foundation to improve children’s chances of success in school and — later — in careers. Business leaders increasingly grasp this, which helped explain why 93.1% of poll respondents agreed that Illinois’ multiyear approach to strengthen early childhood services — based on the research and recommendations of a bipartisan commission in 2021 — will “positively impact the workforce in Illinois.”

Valdez and four other local business leaders — all ReadyNation Illinois members — were joined by Rockford’s mayor and school superintendent in the poll-release event last March, which generated extensive newspaper and TV coverage.

In the months since, ReadyNation members have helped to share these survey results more broadly among policymakers — for example, relaying them to Illinois’ congressional delegation last spring in defending the federal Head Start early childhood program against potential cuts that would have affected up to 28,000 young children and their parents, statewide.

The findings also served as the focal point of meetings that business leaders held with state legislative leaders during ReadyNation’s Day at the Capitol event in Springfield last May, making the case for greater investments in birth-to-5 programs. The FY26 state budget that lawmakers passed that month included $85 million in new resources for child care assistance and $90 million growth in grants bolstering the compensation of hardworking child care teachers and staff.