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In Alaska, early care and learning is connected to healthy families and communities. The first connection is through a workforce of 7,300 early educators working with Alaska children and families statewide. The second is supporting working families: the availability of affordable, high-quality early care and learning services allows parents to remain in the workforce as well as helps employers retain employees. An Economic Impact of Early Care and Learning Services in Alaska 2011 Update estimates 10 percent of Alaska’s resident workforce uses child care.

In order to thrive, businesses in Alaska need a strong competitive workforce. High quality early care and education programs help support the current Alaska workforce while investing in workforce of tomorrow. Research has shown that businesses that help their employees find high quality early care and education programs benefit from improved recruitment, increased employee productivity, fewer absences, improved employee/employer relations, higher retention rates, and better community relations.

In Alaska the “Brain Drain” is a real challenge for many employers. As high quality early care and education programs are hard to find, many young families are choosing to move to more family friendly communities in the lower 48 or are leaving the workforce altogether. This can be a challenge for many employers who are constantly looking for a highly skilled workforce. On the other hand, many parents who choose to work are unable to focus at work because they are continually dealing with child care breakdowns due to a lack of quality options. Research shows that higher quality early care and education programs can result in increased productivity for parents as their program is more reliable and less anxiety provoking.

High-quality early care and education programs not only enable many parents to remain in the workforce, it provides a good return on investment! Our children are competing against children from India and China. The Global economy is real and many jobs are being outsourced to less expensive, more highly qualified workforces in other countries. Studies have shown the vast achievement gap that occurs between children who receive high-quality early care and education services and those who don’t. The Perry Preschool Study, a 40 year longitudinal study that followed 123 children from Michigan found that kids who received high-quality early childhood education were less likely to drop out of school, be incarcerated, or need special education services. Furthermore, they were more likely to attend college, they had better paying jobs and after 40 years, tax payers saved $17 on every dollar that was invested into early care and education services for those kids.

thread partners with Alaska business by:

• Consulting with businesses, nonprofits, or governmental agencies around ways to provide child care support for their employees. Check out thread’s new “checklist to help create a family friendly workplace!”
• Conducting lunchtime presentations or brown bags to assist businesses on finding quality child care, parenting skills, or balancing work-family life.
• Supporting family-friendly workplace awards and recognition programs highlighting
  businesses with the best family friendly policies in Alaska.
• Providing employers research and statistics related to the early care and learning profession.

(61 KB)	Child Care Referral Request Form thread Child Care Referral Request Form. Upon completion, please submit your request form to your regional thread office listed in the document.
(86 KB)	A checklist to help create a family-friendly workforce What Employers Can DO: A checklist to help create a family-friendly workplace
(4274 KB)	2011 Update: Economic Impact of Early Care and Learning Services in Alaska 2011 Update: Economic Impact of Early Care and Learning Services in Alaska

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