Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indiana finds itself at a crossroads. As our state continues to provide a tax and fiscal environment that makes Indiana an attractive place to start, expand or move a business, we also face pressure on the social systems that make our communities great places to live and work.
Indiana and its employers have a unique opportunity to leverage this moment and make further investments in one critical piece of our human talent infrastructure: child care.
Access to child care is quietly determining what talent can show up, stay, and advance. If Indiana wants more working parents — especially moms — back in the game, we must treat child care like the economic infrastructure it is.
This isn’t a niche “family issue.” It’s a core talent strategy. For communities to thrive over the next two decades, ensuring families have access to affordable child care — alongside assets such as housing — will be critical.
Today, far too many Hoosier families struggle to access child care following cuts to state funding and the sunsetting of temporary federal funds that grew child care access in 2021 following the pandemic. A 2024 report from Early Learning Indiana shows that our state has only two-thirds of the child care capacity required to meet families’ needs, and the cost of care amounts to 11% of the average household income.
As a result, our state misses out on more than $4 billion in economic activity each year due to employee absences and turnover, declines in worker productivity and lost income tax revenue. Many of our state’s most talented workers reduce their workforce participation because they can’t find or afford care. In a 2025 policy survey conducted with Indy Chamber members, access to child care for employees emerged as a top concern.
This pain point presents an opportunity for businesses to lean in and strengthen the ecosystem that makes work possible. While employers want to do right by their employees, most lack the scale or resources to operate child care centers. And even if they could, child care is not the business they chose to be in.
Fortunately, House Enrolled Act 1177, which recently passed the Indiana General Assembly and was signed into law by Gov. Mike Braun, expands an existing tax credit program to allow employers to offer child care on a contract basis with local providers. This, combined with Senate Enrolled Act 4, which enables surplus dollars to support federal child care vouchers, will provide steps to help shore up the state’s child care system and give employers an opportunity to more deeply engage.
Employers’ role in supporting their employees’ child care will look different depending on their size, industry and geography. But employers should consider providing financial support for child care as part of an employee benefits package. That would be a meaningful step that many small- to mid-size businesses can achieve, and it will be made easier by the expansion of tax credit.
More business engagement in addressing child care would have an added benefit to our broader economy: strengthening the child care providers that make the rest of our economic lives possible. By creating more opportunities for partnership between child care providers and employers of all sizes, the child care sector can be improved, ensuring that families — and employers — have their needs met.•
__________
Snideman is vice president of government and sector relations for United Way of Central Indiana. Hughes is chief strategy officer and chief of staff for the Indy Chamber.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.