A shortage of childcare workers means families in southwest Iowa and the greater Omaha metro area don't have enough options for care, according to a recent report from the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska.
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"Because childcare is the infrastructure that we often don't invest in," said Professor Walter Gilliam, executive director of the Buffett Institute.
He says the gap between childcare need and availability is nearly eight percent across the metropolitan statistical area.
"But in some places it's worse than others. The areas of greatest needs tend to be North O, South Omaha, the area right next to Offutt Air Force Base, and Council Bluffs," he said.
In Pottawattamie, Harrison and Mills counties, that gap grows to 20%, meaning more than 1,000 children do not have childcare within a reasonable driving distance from home. That forces parents to bring their children into the city for care or drive out of their way.
"We don't have enough childcare providers because it pays so poorly," Gilliam said.
Shirley Urich, from Iowa Child Care Resource and Referral, said childcare centers are frequently not operating at full capacity because of staffing shortages.
"It's a staffing shortage. They can't find quality staff," she said.
She agrees with Gilliam that pay and professional respect are a big part of the problem.
"People don't treat the early childhood professionals like professionals," Urich said.
Gilliam says childcare should be treated like infrastructure and subsidized by public investment — arguing that, like roads, it is something people depend on to get to work.
"Without it, economies come to a halt," Gilliam said.
Urich emphasized that the stakes extend beyond workforce and economics, pointing to the long-term impact on children themselves.
"Those are the most important days in a child's ... life," Urich said.
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