Business leaders say Alaska's child care crisis is hurting employers and economy

August 24, 2023Alaska business experts say the ongoing child care crisis is hurting the state’s employers and the economy.

“This is a problem that is impacting their bottom line,” said Kati Capozzi, president of the Alaska Chamber, the state’s largest business advocacy group. “It’s impacting their ability to recruit and retain. It’s impacting the morale and the happiness of the employee.” Capozzi is also a member of the task force started by Gov. Mike Dunleavy this year to address child care issues in the state. She presented a report from the chamber to the task force at its meeting Wednesday. The report took a look at how child care impacts the state’s businesses and economy. A major takeaway: the state is losing a lot of money annually because of a shortage of child care.

“We found that about $152 million are missing from the Alaskan economy because of people choosing not to be in the workforce, or working less,” Capozzi said. She said roughly a third of Alaska workers with children at home reported missing work in the last year because of child care issues. She attributed the problem to several factors, including a

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