Elevating Job Quality — Challenges and Opportunities for Job Quality in the Childcare Sector

Maureen Conway, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunities Program, recently sat down with two Shared Success grantees—Jataune Hall, Director of Special Projects and Partnerships at Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon, and Lamont Jackson, Director of Technical Assistance, Black Business Investment Fund—to learn more about the challenges of and opportunities for small business childcare providers. The critical service childcare businesses supports the entire family, community, and workforce. Low job quality in the childcare industry has negative impacts on the childcare workforce, which is overwhelmingly female and disproportionately women of color, on childcare businesses, which struggle with turnover and staff training costs, and on the availability and quality of care in a given community. In the absence of a national policy, Shared Success grantees like MESO in Oregon and BBIF in Florida are leading the way.About Shared Success⁠Shared Success⁠, a project of the Economic Opportunities Program, works with community lenders to integrate job quality programming into their small business support services, demonstrating that improved job quality can support the needs of employees while helping small businesses succeed.About the Economic Opportunities ProgramThe Aspen Institute ⁠Economic Opportunities Program⁠ hosts a variety of discussions to advance strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. To learn about upcoming events and webinars, ⁠join our mailing list⁠ and ⁠follow us on social media⁠.