Child care crisis in SC, Greenville County depletes workforce, costs companies

Child care is essential for working parents in Greenville County.

Adults with young children rely on this resource to maintain employment. However, affordable, high-quality child care can be challenging to find.

Without reliable child care, some parents may decide to quit or change jobs to stay home with their children. Approximately 15% of children in South Carolina were in families that had to change or quit their jobs due to problems with child care, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s “2023 Kids Count Data Book.” The foundation focuses on the educational, economic, social and health outcomes of youth.

Insufficient child care has been identified as a major workforce barrier impacting businesses and the economy in South Carolina. The crisis has an estimated $23 billion aggregate annual burden on businesses across the state, according to a 2023 report by ReadyNation, an initiative of the Council for a Strong America. Businesses typically lose an average of $1,640 per working parent due to inadequate child care.

“Not only does it hurt the businesses because they’re not getting the employees they need, they’re losing employees so they have to spend more money recruiting, retaining and training,” said Kim Russel, ReadyNation’s South Carolina state lead.

Understanding the widespread economic impact of child care has led many companies and policymakers to look for solutions.

Employer efforts

Child care slots in Greenville County are in short supply. Derek Lewis, executive director of Greenville First Steps, said approximately 4,000 child care slots are currently needed in Greenville County.

“For me, that’s thousands of families who would be able to return to work if they just had reliable and affordable child care,” Lewis said.

To eliminate the child care barrier, businesses may consider creating on-site care for their employees. For example, Prisma Health — one of the major employers in Greenville County — has a child care center on the Greenville Memorial Hospital Campus.

The Greenville Memorial Childcare Center provides care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old and is run by third-party provider Bright Horizons. The center operates on extended hours from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays to accommodate the atypical schedules of health care workers.

Part- and full-time team members are eligible for Prisma Health’s on-site program. Approximately 138 children from 105 Prisma Health team members are currently enrolled at the on-site center. A total of 375 team members are on the center’s waiting lists.

“We know that affordable child care is a concern for many of our team members,” said Sandy Dees, a Prisma spokeswoman. “Prisma Health strives to offer benefits that help provide child care that’s right for the family and the situation, whether that’s a child care center, back-up care or another care arrangement.”

Many businesses do not have the space or finances to operate on-site child care for their employees. Another option companies can consider is negotiating with a local provider to set aside a block of child care slots for their employees. Megan Carolan, vice president of policy research for the Institute for Child Success, said companies can also help employees with some of the financial burden of child care.

“(The company) can make payments directly to child care providers of a certain amount that would then discount what the family has to pay,” Carolan said. “A lot of companies offer a flexible savings account … it has some costs for the employer but then their employees can put money into it to use for child care that doesn’t get taxed, which can be a huge benefit.”

Policy support

Policymakers in South Carolina are looking at ways to support employer-sponsored child care programs. A bill was introduced in the state Senate in January to incentivize employers to help employees with child care.

Senate Bill 47 is being assessed by the Senate Finance Committee. It has received support from local leaders and organizations including the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.

Improving the accessibility and affordability of child care is one of the chamber’s top priorities for the 2025 South Carolina Legislature session. Matt Will, Greenville Chamber’s vice president of government affairs, explained the state’s child care tax credit has been underutilized by businesses and individuals in the past.

“Senate Bill 47 kind of takes a little bit more bite at the apple if you will on the tax-credit side,” Will said.

The bill, S.47, would increase the maximum tax credit available to employers who have created child care programs for their employees. Employers can also receive a tax credit if they help cover employees’ child care costs at outside providers.

In addition, the bill would create a new, refundable income tax credit for full-time employees at licensed child care facilities in South Carolina. Greenville City Councilmember Dorothy Dowe believes the bill is a step forward to help people who want to work in child care make ends meet.

“If that can get across the finish line, that’s using a tool in the toolkit of the state purview to help incentive workers to come into the child care industry at a local level,” Dowe said.

Read more about the child care’s employment crisis

Crisis cost

Annual aggregate economic burden per year a child is under age 3:

Parents

• Individual average: $5,520
• Total: $78 billion

Businesses

• Individual average: $1,640
• Total: $23 billion

Taxpayers

• Individual average: $1,470
• Total: $21 billion

Source: ReadyNation 2023 report

Child Care shortage

In Greenville County:

• 4,000 infant and toddler child care slots are currently needed
• 6,400 infant and toddler child care slots are projected to be needed by 2040

Source: Greenville First Steps

Nontraditional hours

Working parents struggle to find child care that operates during nontraditional hours — before 7 a.m., after 6 p.m. and on weekends.

Employees working in some of Greenville’s key industries, including manufacturing, hospitality and tourism and health care, typically need child care during these hours. According to the Greenville Area Development Corp. and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,

• Manufacturing makes up 10.8% of Greenville County’s employment
• Health services and education makes up 12.9% of Greenville County’s employment
• Leisure and tourism make up 9.4% of Greenville County’s employment

According to the Institute for Child Success, 40% of South Carolina children under the age of 6 have parents working at these times.

Megan Carolan, vice president of policy research for the Institute for Child Success, said that approximately 7,700 children in Greenville County likely need care during these nontraditional hours.

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