Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the crucial role of childcare within a strong economy – as many parents, primarily women, have been forced to choose between earning a living or caring for their out-of-school children. Sadly, this is nothing new for rural places. Rural areas face unique childcare challenges. Providing quality, licensed center-based services in many rural places is not financially viable; the business model relies on sufficient population density and a supply of parents with the ability to pay. Rural center-based services that are available are more likely distant from parents, and some operate only at times that don’t match the work hours when parents need them. As a result, informal home-based and family childcare providers represent a larger share of rural childcare. But whether operating a center- or home-based program, rural providers face challenges gaining access to capital for start-up, equipment, facilities and modernization; business development services; and the range of potential government assistance to get their businesses going and make them sustainable. Sufficient high-quality, affordable rural childcare is a crucial part our shared economic recovery, since it plays a key role in allowing parents with young children to work, while also preparing the next generation of healthy and capable workers. It is critical to both the short- and long-term economic prosperity for families and rural regions.

To learn more, join this webinar offered by the Community Strategies Group  of the Aspen Institute. To register, visit https://aspeninst.zoom.us/webi...4l1xr_S3eZ1F3ZfGUDWQ