Since the pandemic, there have been a lot of jobs that have not been filled in our area.  The labor shortage has been blamed on a lot of factors, but at least one factor is that there are fewer child care workers available in Georgia.  That has made it difficult for parents who are looking to enter the workforce.

During the 2020 pandemic shutdown, Chattooga County lost a popular child care facility in Menlo.  The Happy Place Learning Center closed last year and never reopened.  The property on Highway 337 near Menlo Elementary School is currently listed for sale.

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s updated National and State Child Care Data report, there were 14,350 child care workers in Georgia in 2020. That number represents a 17% decline in the number of child care workers from 2019 and a 25% decline since 2016.

In 2020, the annual mean salary for Georgia’s child care workers was $21,100.

“COVID-19 laid bare many of the challenges in our nation’s child care system,” said Luci Manning, spokesperson for the organization. “These issues include retaining and recruiting staff, the high-cost burden on parents, and lack of a sustainable business model for child care providers — many of which are women-owned small businesses.”

According to the organization, nearly 24 million children ages 5 and under live in the U.S., with 63% living in households in which both parents work.

The latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that Chattooga County has around 1,487 children under the age of five.