Talk with economic development leaders about some of the challenges facing Florida’s workforce and the phrase “a victim of our own success” often comes up.
The state’s ever-surging population has made Florida a more expensive place to live, a reality especially true with housing costs. Lower-wage workers struggle to afford a place to live that’s close to work, putting more cars on the roads for longer commutes. Insurance costs remain far above the national average.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce sounded an alarm late last year, pointing to data that showed more people in their 20s left the state than moved in, often due to the cost of living. That’s a problem for a state already dealing with more than a quarter-million people under the age of 24 considered “disconnected youth” and not a part of the workforce.
Too many younger people who might want to work are tagging out because too much of their salaries go to childcare. The U.S. Census conducts a monthly “Household Pulse Survey,” which found that 335,000 Floridians either reduced their work hours, quit a job or opted out of the workforce to care for children.
The nonprofit Florida TaxWatch cited that data in a July report estimating the cost to families and to business from childcare challenges. Absenteeism related to childcare needs has more than doubled since 2022, it found. “We’re looking at some trends, and it’s not getting better,” says TaxWatch founder and CEO Dominic Calabro. He calls high quality childcare, which not only provides babysitting service but also educates, “the seed corn of our economy.”
The TaxWatch report cites Economic Policy Institute data estimating that childcare for infants costs about $1,100 per month in Florida, while care for toddlers costs just under $800. For too many families, that cuts too deeply into their net wages to keep working.
Calabro suggested tax incentives for businesses to create their own childcare programs similar to the way some major companies are building their own workforce housing [See Florida Trend’s 2024 Floridian of the Year: “The new company housing,” December 2024, www.FloridaTrend.com].
Florida lawmakers passed a bill in 2024 (CS/HB 7073) that provides a tax credit of up to half the startup costs for opening a childcare facility, along with $300 per month for each employee’s child that’s enrolled. Similar credits are available to employers who help pay workers’ childcare costs at licensed facilities.
“We’re looking at some trends, and it’s not getting better,” says TaxWatch founder and CEO Dominic Calabro.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute — funded by labor unions and their supporters — recommends capping childcare expenses at 7% of a family’s income. That could save a typical Florida family $6,554 per year that could be spent on other needs. It also would bring an estimated 70,000 people back to the workforce.
The Child Care for Working Families Act was introduced in Congress last July. It asks states to cover 10% of the costs, while the federal government would carry the rest. Local governments could be eligible for grants in states that choose not to participate. But parents shouldn’t start factoring such benefits into their plans just yet. The bill, sponsored this year by U.S. Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), first was filed in 2017.