As U.S. companies face historic instability driven by artificial intelligence, automation, and global disruption, a new analysis identifies a proven opportunity to stabilize the workforce: childcare.

New Jersey businesses lose $2.28 billion a year due to childcare disruptions, with more than half the cost borne by the foundational workforce — essential, high-interaction, and shift-based workers who keep New Jersey’s core industries running — and whose roles will persist even as AI is widely adopted.

That’s a key finding from an analysis released today by the Moms First’s National Business Coalition for Childcare in partnership with the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

The foundational workforce includes such critical jobs as teachers, nurses, caregivers, customer service representatives, and others in transportation and manufacturing positions.

The findings are from “Investing in Childcare: How U.S. Businesses Can Unlock Up to $70 Billion by Providing Childcare Benefits,” developed with support from McKinsey and Company, which presented both national and New Jersey data at an Executive Business Roundtable of employers, industry associations, and community organizations convened by Moms First and NJBIA today.

“As companies race to adopt AI, the foundational workers our entire society depends on aren’t going anywhere,” said Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Moms First.

“Without childcare, they can’t work. When a nurse can’t find last-minute care, that’s a shift missed. When a teacher’s daycare closes, a classroom goes unstaffed. If companies want a chance at growing in an era of disruption, investing in childcare is one of the smartest bets they can make.”

“The findings underscore a profound economic reality: Supporting childcare isn’t a perk — it’s a workforce necessity, particularly for the foundational workers who sustain New Jersey’s essential industries,” said NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka.

“Expanding childcare benefits and addressing accessibility, affordability, and flexibility gives employers the opportunity to recover the costs of lost productivity, stabilize staffing in mission-critical roles, and strengthen the state’s long-term economic competitiveness.”

The roundtable reflected growing sentiment among New Jersey employers to treat childcare as essential economic infrastructure because it enables parents to show up fully to work, which boosts business productivity.

As members of Start Strong NJ — a statewide campaign for affordable childcare — Moms First and NJBIA are working with business leaders to launch a New Jersey Business Council for Childcare, a leadership council of employers committed to advancing scalable solutions through public-private partnership.

Moms First’s National Business Coalition for Childcare is working with business leaders to launch a New Jersey Business Council for Childcare — a leadership council of employers committed to advancing scalable solutions through public-private partnership.

“Around the nation, Moms First’s work with business leaders gives a big boost to advocacy for affordable childcare,” said Start Strong NJ Campaign Director Sharon Levine, who attended today's roundtable. “We look forward to working with them to launch the New Jersey Business Council for Childcare, which adds a crucial dimension to our campaign’s efforts.”

Among other findings from the analysis:

• 76% of New Jersey’s working parents are foundational workers — about 180,000 – and 9 in 10 parents reported experiencing childcare disruptions that impacted their work, ranging from missing work to reduced productivity at work to leaving the workforce altogether. Absenteeism alone affects 125,000 parents each year in New Jersey, costing employers $520 million.
• New Jersey’s top 5 industries hurt most from childcare disruptions are healthcare; education; trades, construction, and industrials; transportation and logistics; and retail, representing $550 million in total losses. Childcare instability undermines day-to-day operations in these sectors, driving up turnover, reducing availability of skilled workers, and shrinking the pipeline of experienced employees.
• Across 11 common employer interventions — ranging from backup care and childcare stipends to on-site centers and predictable scheduling — the analysis found a universally positive return on investment, with returns ranging from 5% to 300% or more.

The New Jersey data builds on national findings that childcare disruptions cost U.S. businesses up to $70 billion annually.

New Jersey accounts for about 3% of the $70 billion, which matches its share of the country’s overall economic output. But, while the findings for New Jersey mirror the national pattern, New Jersey parents leave their jobs at a rate above the national average because of their inability to find and afford reliable childcare.

In its report, ”Blueprint for Affordable Childcare: New Jersey Doesn’t Work Without It,”  Start Strong NJ's broader statewide accounting puts the total cost even higher: New Jersey’s childcare crisis costs the state’s economy $5 billion a year in lost wages, reduced business productivity, and foregone tax revenue for important public services.

Childcare is the largest expense for many New Jersey families with young children — greater even than their rent or mortgage.

About Moms First
Moms First is fighting for America’s moms. Our mission is to win paid leave and childcare as economic imperatives that allow families to thrive. Our vision is a country that values motherhood and supports moms and families.

About NJBIA
NJBIA is widely regarded as the largest, most credible and effective advocate for business in the Garden State. Strengthened by the largest staff of government affairs experts within New Jersey's business community, NJBIA testifies frequently before the Legislature and state agencies to protect the interests of its members and always puts business at the center of important policy discussions. In addition to its powerful advocacy and data, NJBIA also provides member companies with practical information and a slate of money-saving benefits to help make New Jersey's businesses prosperous.