(Radio Iowa) - A report shows a state pilot program raised the number of children who could enroll in childcare services in select communities, which improved wages and benefits for local childcare workers.
The “Iowa Childcare Solutions Fund: A Model for Closing the Childcare Gap” report analyzed the effect the Childcare Solutions Fund had in pilot communities, matching private investments from businesses and individuals with state funding. Iowa Women’s Foundation president and C-E-O Deann Cook says she's proud to see a public-private partnership address the issue.
The report shows if the pilot program was expanded statewide, it would create eight-thousand new jobs, enable five-thousand more parents and guardians to join the workforce, add 11-thousand childcare slots, and increase Iowa’s gross domestic product by 13-billion dollars.