A statewide report, released in 2024, estimates that insufficient childcare availability is costing North Carolina $5.65 billion annually in lost economic activity.
North Carolina employers increasingly identify childcare as one of the most significant barriers to workforce participation and talent retention. Without accessible, affordable, high-quality childcare, parents cannot reliably participate in the workforce.
The business community has helped elevate childcare from a family issue to an economic competitiveness issue. Policymakers are increasingly responding with proposals aimed at workforce attraction, regulatory modernization, and long-term sustainability within the childcare sector.
The NC Chamber is focused on advancing practical, long-term solutions that strengthen workforce participation, support working families, and help employers address growing labor force challenges.
While these challenges are not unique to North Carolina, our position as the nation’s top state for business creates an opportunity, and responsibility, to lead on solutions.
Go Deeper
As the NC Chamber’s long-term research and strategic planning organization, the NC Chamber Foundation focuses on the economic and workforce challenges shaping North Carolina’s future competitiveness.
The Foundation’s childcare research has helped elevate this issue as a core workforce and economic challenge facing employers across the state. Learn more.
The Agenda
- Learn how the NC Chamber championed issues for North Carolina’s businesses in the latest edition of How They Voted.
- View our Legislative Agenda here.
Join the Effort
Ensure your business has a seat at the table as North Carolina works to remove barriers to workforce participation and economic opportunity. Explore membership opportunities with the NC Chamber today.