Home-based childcare providers play a critical role for our workforce and early childhood development ecosystems. These solo entrepreneurs provide a significant share of care in this country with over 1 million paid providers and caregivers caring for over 3 million children ages 0-5. This care is also essential to reaching families with infants and toddlers, those in rural areas and for those where parents are working non-standard hours. Their care supports child growth and development, enables parents to work and simulates local economies.
Home-based childcare providers serve a critical role in our workforce ecosystem, yet they often face barriers with their main asset– their homes– due to licensing regulations, zoning and HOA restrictions, as well as lack of access to capital to purchase their homes or grow their businesses. And the income derived from these essential services often falls short in providing stability for the business to grow, build wealth for the entrepreneur, or to stabilize the supply of child care in their area.
On Thursday, November 14, 2024, AFN held a webinar to learn about innovative work happening to address asset building for home-based childcare entrepreneurs. We explored:
- the main barriers these entrepreneurs are facing,
- ways groups are attempting to remove those barriers,
- policy opportunities to create systemic change and,
- ways philanthropy can be supportive.
Speakers
Hayley Village, Bay Area-based licensed home-based child care provider
Natalie Renew, Home Grown
Cynthia Melde, LISC AZ
Laura Kohn, Mission Driven Finance
Camille Emeagwali, New York Women’s Foundation
Read their bios
