Child care is still the missing ingredient for a fast economic recovery

After weeks at home, Ana Arroyo, 28, is ready get out of the house and back to work. Her employer, Merced County Community Action Agency, has reopened and her job is just waiting for her.

But she can't return — because there's no one to watch her six-year-old son, Javier.

Child care businesses were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19-related shutdown, with a third of child care workers nationwide laid off or furloughed. Only the hotel and restaurant industries fared worse. And because child care providers operate on such thin margins, many have shuttered their doors forever, or will have to shortly, surveys show.

As states and businesses begin to reopen, the missing link may be a lack of child care options for parents returning to the workplace, experts say.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/child-care-is-still-the-missing-ingredient-for-a-fast-economic-recovery/ar-BB15bN0P?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=hplocalnews