Access to quality childcare isn’t just a family concern – it’s a community issue. When care if unavailable or affordable, the effects ripple across households, workplaces, and the broader local economy.
How the Shortage Shows Up
- For families: Parents cut back hours, pass on promotions, or leave the workforce altogether – straining household income.
- For employers: Turnover rises, absenteeism grows, and the available talent pool shrinks, making it harder to recruit and retain workers.
- For communities: Places risk losing new families and the young professionals they hope to attract. Each childhood experiences are tied to school readiness and lifelong success, so today’s gaps can become tomorrow’s workforce challenges.
Quality childcare is not just a family issue, it an economic development strategy. Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) helps communities quantify and address the problem through ‘The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Child Care Access’ study. Since 2021, 34 studies have been completed, covering 36 counties in NPPD’s service area, giving local leaders data they can act on.
“The bottom-line study, and NPPD’s county-level breakdowns, have a been a game changer for communities. Seeing the economic impact of inadequate childcare at the local level – on families, businesses, and the overall economy, helps leaders connect the dots between childcare and economic growth. It also raises awareness of how local electrical utilities can be strong partners in addressing these challenges, creating momentum for collaborative solutions,” said Mike Feeken, Strategic Partnerships Advisor, First Five Nebraska.
A county-by-county map (below) highlights where studies are complete and estimates the per-capita economic impact of inadequate childcare. The figure reflects the combined impiact to families with children under age six and to businesses from lost income, divided by total county population.
- Average per capita impact: $275
- Range: $148 (Nemeha County) to $673 (Richardson County)
These numbers help local officials, employers, and civic groups size the challenge and to help build coalitions around practical solutions, like expanding licensed slots, supporting provider growth or developing new facilities.
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1 A total of 34 studies have been completed since 2021 covering a total of 36 counties. This includes 32 studies of individual counties and two studies that combined two counties. The combined studies include the study for Dundy and Hitchcock Counties and the study Frontier and Gosper Counties.
“NPPD’s study for Seward County was used for a variety of ways to build our case for support for expanding capacities for local childcare service providers, “said Jonathan Jank, President & CEO for Seward County Chamber & Development Partnership. “Numbers don’t lie. The data provided in this study spurred on the tremendous investment“ to build m’ltiple new facilities and to support existing provider growth, which has led to more than 200 new licensed spots being created to close Seward County’s childcare service gap in a short period of time.”
If your community wants clear, local data to guide action, NPPD can help. To learn more about requesting a study, please contact Melissa Trueblood, Economist at Nebraska Public Power District – mltrueb@nppd.com.