Child Care is Key to New Jersey’s Economic Recovery from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women’s employment, with female workforce participation at its lowest rate in more than 30 years. Returning women to work is key to New Jersey’s economic recovery. Lack of child care was an important driver of women exiting the workforce, as both schools and child care providers closed, and many mothers left work to care for their children.

For our state’s economy to stabilize and thrive, access to affordable, quality child care for working families must be a paramount concern. Policymakers must utilize new federal funds to expand families’ access to child care and stabilize the child care sector, to help return women to work.