Wayne County, Indiana
Employee Child Care Survey
In the Fall of 2022, the EDC of Wayne County and Forward Wayne County collaborated with
the Purdue Center for Regional Development to develop and distribute a child care survey toadults working in Wayne County. Eighteen partner employers distributed this survey to theirworkforce and as a result we received 276 valid survey responses.
Participating employers represent diverse employment sectors including manufacturing,
healthcare, education, financial services, and government. The aggregated responses are enclosed along with a summary of our findings.

Summary of Child Care Survey
Demographic Characteristics
Nearly 92% of responses were received from full-time workers and of those workers themajority, 72.5%, were female. The age range of responses were diverse, but nearly 80% were
between the ages of 26-55.

Location and Household Income
Almost 80% of respondents live in Wayne County with the majority at 58.3% living inRichmond. It should be noted, however, that 19.6% of those Wayne County workers who
responded live outside of the county. The annual household income range of respondents wasvast ranging from $30,000 or less up to more than $150,000.

Ranking of Benefits
When asked their preference of employee benefits, the top choice with a ranking of 5 wascollege/university tuition support. Second to that with a ranking of 4.4 was child care support
demonstrating that assistance with the high cost of education and child care are desired
benefits of our workforce. Next came life insurance, vacation time/pto, retirement, and lastly
health insurance.

1Child Care
Half of respondents either have child care needs now or will need it in the future. Most only
have 1-2 children and nearly 59% rely on a friend or family member or another household tomeet their current child care needs.
This informal level of child care results in 26.6% of workers who elect to leave the job to stayhome when child care is not available and another 12% who reduce their work hours whenchild care is not available. For respondents with children, significant days of work were missed
due to childcare challenges: 31.3% missed 1-5 days, 7.7% missed 6-10 days, 2.6% missed 11-15
days, and 1.8% missed 16 or more days.
Note: These survey data results supports two key truths—1) Local child care facilities
policies prevent sick children from attending child care facilities (licensed, home-based,or ministerial) as to not spread illness (470 IAC 3-4.7-16 Enrollment policies)2) More recently, national data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed thatthousands of parents missed work due to child care issues in October 2022.
https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNU02096055
The survey also showed that it is clear that the majority of workers need child care Monday
through Friday with only 1.4% requiring child care on Sunday and 1.7% on Saturday.
Additionally, first shift is clearly the mostly needed time of day with 46.8% needing child care
between 6am – 1pm and 48.6% needing it from 1pm – 6pm.
When asked how much they are willing to pay for child care, an astounding
majority at 74.8% are only willing to pay $150 or less per child per week. That equates to$7,800 annually. This may heavily impact those respondents in the $30,000 household income
range. Only 4.7% currently use Child Care Development Fund vouchers to subsidize their childcare costs. We are unclear if such low usage is tied to ineligibility or lack of awareness about
the program.
Lastly, when asked how important various child care factors are to those who use it, it is clearthat hours of operation and cost are very important factors and other high rankings include
the program being licensed by the state, close proximity to their home or work and that earlyeducation is provided.

2Conclusion
The aggregated responses provide a pure message for our local employers. Child care is
the second highest sought out employee benefit. More important than traditional
benefits. We offer the following suggestions:
1.

Take this information back to your internal team and start thinking of how you can 		assist your current and future employees.		
a.
Can you offer child care subsidies?		
b.
Do you need additional information on Child Care Development Fund			vouchers?
2.
Seek out information and guidance from your fellow employers. We would be
happy to connect you with employers who have had success with subsidizing child		care.
3.
Collaborate with local child care facilities.		
a.
Buy standing seats so they are available for your workforce.		
b.
Provide monetary donations so that they can increase wages, etc. toretain staff which in turn sustains the number of available seats 						they have to offer.
4.
Advocate and support local efforts to bring in outside grants or other resources 		that enhance local child care availability and affordability.
This is not a conclusive list. The EDC of Wayne County and Forward Wayne County are
here to assist in any way we can. In the next quarter, we would like to reconvene
employer roundtables to continue this conversation. We hope you will join us.

3

Employee Child Care Survey
November 2022

Roberto Gallardo, Ph.D.

Purdue Center for Regional Development

Demographic Characteristics
Gender

Employee Typen = 276n = 276

0.4

Age Groupsn = 276

1.1

8.3

13.0

26.1

7.2

26.8

19.9

72.5
33.0

91.7

Full-timePart-time

Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey

MaleFemale

18-25

26-35

Non-binary

Prefer not to say

46-55

56 or older

36-45Location and Household Income
Household Income

Where do you live?
n = 276n = 271

Richmond

OtherCenterville

5.1

Fountain City

1.8

Boston1.1

Whitewater0.7

EconomyMount Auburn

24.0

28.0

1.4

Abington

Pershing

8.9

2.5

Cambridge City

Spring Grove

9.2

3.3

Greens Fork

Dublin

19.6

4.7

Hagerston

Milton

58.3

0.7

0.4

11.8

0.4

18.1

0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0

10.0

Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

$30,000 or less

$30,001 - $50,000$50,001 - $70,000$70,001 - $90,000$90,001 - $150,000

More than $150,000

Ranking of Employee Benefits (1 = low; 6 high)n = 270

6.0

5.0

5.0
4.4
4.0

4.0

3.23.02.6
1.8

2.0

1.0

0.0
College/university
tuition support
Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care SurveyChild care support

Life insurance

Vacation time/PTO

Retirement

Health insuranceChild Care Situation & Number of ChildrenChild Care Situation/NeedNumber of Children

n = 187n = 271

60.0
12.3

55.0

50.0

40.0

50.8
36.9

30.0

25.5

20.0
12.9
10.0

Have had in the past
Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey

Currently

Anticipate in the future

5.2

0.0
None123

1.1

0.4

45

Child Care Type & Options
Child Care Typen = 126

15.9

If no child care, what would you do?
n = 259

16.7

13.5
8.7

3.5

44.4

12.0

11.1
47.6

CenterChurch or early learning center
Another home
Friend or family member
OtherSource: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey

26.6

Seek care from family member, friend or neighbor
Leave job to stay home
Reduce work hours
Alternative shift/schedule
OtherDays Missed in the past Year due to Child Care Challengesn = 272

60.0

56.6

50.0

40.0
31.3

30.0

20.0

10.0

7.7
2.6

1.8

11-15

16 or more

0.0
None
Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey

1-5

6-10

Child Care Preferences
Days of the week

Time of day

n = 586n = 218

1.4

1.7

3.7

0.9

19.5

18.9

46.8
19.3

48.6

19.6
19.6

SundayMondayTuesday

6am-1pm

1pm-6pm

WednesdayThursdayFriday6pm-10pm

10pm-6am

Saturday
Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey; note that for days of the week and time of day more than one option could be selectedWillingness to Pay & Child Care Vouchers Eligibility
Willingness to Pay per Child, per Week,

Qualify for Child Care & Developmentn = 127n = 86Full-time

1.6

7.9

0.8

Fund (CCDF) vouchers?

0.04.715.0

74.8$150 or less$151-$200$201-$250$251-$300$301-$350

Over $350

Source: 2022 PCRD Child Care Survey; note that for days of the week and time of day more than one option could be selected

95.3

YesNoChild Care Factors
n range = 147-157

Program licensed by the State

10.5

34.9

Options for part-time care

21.8

Meals are provided

21.1

Diversity of staff

40.1

38.1
48.0

30.9

45.7

Cost 0.0
Early education provided

Location - close to work

83.3
43.3
87.0
42.5

2.5

48.4

43.3
10.0

20.0
Not Important

Source: 2022 Extension Capacity Survey

49.3

13.0
9.2

0.0

37.1

16.7
7.3

Hours of operation 0.0

Location - close to home

54.6

54.1
30.0

40.0

Somewhat Important

50.0
Very Important

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

Schowe House
PCRD Headquarters

How can we help?

/purdueCRD@PCRD/company/pcrd(765) 494-7273

pcrd.purdue.edu/purduecrd