Child care industry big part of economy - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The Milwaukee-based government watchdog grouo recently completeda three-year research project on earlty childhood care and found the industry employsz roughly 12,400 people, more than most Milwaukee County industries including food service and The child care industry also generates an estimated $661 millionb in revenue annually, with an estimated $376 millionb of that coming from Milwaukee Countu alone.
“Child care is a vital part of the region’s infrastructure and probably should be viewed by policymakers the same way as transitor energy,” said Rob Henken, presiden t of the Public Policy Public Policy lead researcher Melissa Kovach used data from the , a studt completed in 2004 by the to examins child care quality in relationship to state chil d care policies, for this study. She found the majorithy of child care providers areof “mediocre This contradicts a 2008 surveyy the forum did of 430 parents in southeasternm Wisconsin that found the vast majority are satisfie with the quality of theidr child care arrangements and their options for chils care.
This could be because the quality measuresd researchers look at and those that parents considerimportantr differ, Kovach said. “Parents judge quality by seeinbg if the caregiver is warm or knowzstheir child’s name,” she said. “Researchers look at what curriculum is beingh taught and whatthe teacher’s traininvg and qualifications are.” Recent media attention on the including several cases of infants who have died afte r being left unattended in providers’ vans, only emphasizes the need to contemplat e the industry as a Henken said.
The child care research project was done to provide policymakere and economic development officials with a sense of the economifc magnitude of the industry and to lay the groundworl for a second study to be release later this year on the costas and benefitsof high-quality earlyg childhood care and the education system in southeasternh Wisconsin, Henken said. Both studies will show that high-quality early childhood education enhances school readiness, especially for disadvantaged and sets the stagr for better outcomes for these including less crime and better employment, Henken said.