September 5: Crisis in Child Care

Child care is a critical component of the basic infrastructure supporting our economy. The economic toll of the US child care crisis costs employers up to $3 billion a year and has amounted to $122 billion in lost earnings for working parents. For many parents – working mothers especially – lack of affordable, quality child care has forced many out of education and the workforce, fueled gender gaps, and kept workers in low-paying jobs. It will take all of us to tackle such an urgent need. In this program, we’ll share local data and highlight efforts in our community to increase access to quality, affordable child care.

Holly Mar-Conte serves as the Lane County Child Care Sector Strategist, housed at Onward Eugene, the economic development arm to the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. In this role, she supports child care providers, community based organizations, K-12 and higher education, government and elected officials, employers, parents and families to identify solutions to improve access to quality, affordable child care. She has over fifteen years of experience working in local and statewide early learning systems and holds a Masters in Planning, Public Policy and Management with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon.