Skip to main content

OVERVIEW: Child care, like roads and bridges, is an important part of the infrastructure for economic development. Over 90 state and local teams have conducted economic impact studies of their child care sectors and identified new economic development policy approaches to strengthen the sector. These are profiled below:

This 2009 study of state and local economic impact reports explores economic development and child care links by providing an overview of lessons learned by state and local study teams involved in conducting economic studies of the child care industry.  
Shira Adriance, Caroline Marshall, Bjorn Markeson, Louise Stoney and
Mildred Warner, 2009. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
 

How Do You Conduct an Economic Development Study of the Child Care Sector?

1. Calculating Sector Size

The first step in conducting an economic analysis of the child care sector is to gather data on your sector. The Cornell Methodology Guide is designed to help you through this process.

2. Determining Linkage Effects

Many states want to conduct regional input-output analyses to determine the linkage effects of the child care sector. Cornell has conducted models for all 50 states.

A brochure, containing a brief summary of the paper, is also available.

3. Crafting Economic Development Strategies.

Teams need to understand economic development policy and how it can be linked to child care. Cornell has developed a planning guide and tool box which profiles examples from across the country:

Economic Development Strategies to Promote Quality Child Care, Warner, M., Adriance, S., Barai, N., Hallas, J., Markeson, B., Morrissey, T., & Soref, W. 2004. Cornell University Department of City and Regional Planning: Ithaca, NY.
(A brochure version is also available.)

"Child Care and Economic Development: The Role for Planners,"
Warner, M. 2006. Planning Advisory Service PAS Memo, American Planning Association. Jan/Feb 2006. Planning Advisory Service Memo sent to all members of the American Planning Association.

Work Life and Employer Resources

For employers interested in work life policies, this publication shows how to measure the economic effects at the firm level:

Shellenback, K. 2004. Child Care and Parent Productivity: Making the Business Case, Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Dept of City and Regional Planning.

>> See the Work Life Policy section of this website for additional information on work life. <<

Reports and Presentations

State and Local Reports Conducted by Cornell University

Long Island: The Child Care Industry: An Integral Part of Long Island's Economy

Kansas: Investing in the Child Care Industry: An Economic Development Strategy for Kansas

New York: Investing in New York: An Economic Analysis of the Early Care and Education Sector

Cultivating Connections Between Economic Development and Child Care
A statewide conference on economic development and child care, New York State, 2006

This section provides an array of resources - conference materials, issue briefs, presentations and articles - on how to create and foster links between economic development and child care.

General Conference Information

Issue Briefs

Cultivating Connections Presentations

Presentations

Child Care: Critical to Economic Recovery. 
Plenary Presentation at the State Child Care Administrators' Meeting, July 29, 2009.

Energizing your Human Capital for Organizational Resiliency: The Business Case for Work/Life Initiatives.
Presentation from the Smart Start Conference, May 8-9, 2007

A series of presentations presented to the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba in April 2007 (overview, intellectual challenges, political challenges, and technical challenges)

Early Care and Education: A Regional Economic Framework
Presented to the Strongest Links Conference in January 2006

A Regional Economic Analysis of the Child Care Sector in NYS
Presented to the NYS Child Care Coordinating Council, Annual Meeting, Albany, NY, Jan. 14, 2004.

Understanding the Impact of Child Care on Local Economies,
PowerPoint presentation from the Child Care Bureau Research Symposium, April 15, 2004

Linking Child Care and Economic Development: Four Challenges. 
Presentation from the State Child Care Administrators' Meeting, August 2003

The Economic Impact of the Early Care and Education Sector. 
Presentation from the National Association of Counties (NACO) Meeting, July 2003

Child Care as Economic Development: Theoretical and Empirical Challenges. 
Presentation from the Child Care Bureau Research Meeting, April 2003