CARE SUMMIT: When care works
The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii convened business leaders, policymakers, early care and education (ECE) experts, and community partners for the Care Summit: When Care Works to examine the role of childcare in Hawaii’s workforce, economic growth, and family well-being.
Childcare is not just a family issue — it’s a cornerstone of Hawaii’s economic infrastructure. The complexity of this challenge demands cross-sector collaboration to ensure Hawaii’s children, families, businesses, and economy thrive together. The summit elevated data, policy insights, and employer-driven solutions aimed at strengthening Hawaii’s ECE system and addressing the workforce impacts of inadequate childcare access.
key outcomes and highlights
- Release of the Hawaii Child Care Economic Impact Report
- Discussion of business-led strategies and employer engagement with
- Policy updates from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
- Focus on ECE workforce recruitment, training, and retention
- Data on statewide childcare supply, demand, and access gaps
- Exploration of on-site and employer-supported childcare models
- Collaborative dialogue on next-step policy actions
program focus areas
- Economic impact of childcare shortages
- Federal and state childcare policy landscape
- ECE workforce pipeline and compensation
- Childcare capacity, access, and family needs
- Employer roles in childcare solutions
- Public-private partnership models
- On-site and community-based care strategies
hawaii childcare impact report
This report, produced in partnership between the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, provides a data-driven analysis of how childcare breakdowns affect Hawaii’s families, employers, and economy.
It examines current childcare and employment dynamics, parents’ preferences and decision-making, and the economic consequences when childcare is unavailable, unaffordable, or unreliable. Drawing on survey responses from 180 Hawaii parents of children under age six, the report estimates the direct cost of insufficient childcare to the state economy and highlights both immediate and long-term effects on workforce participation, education, and earnings.
Childcare is not just a family issue. Rather, it is core economic infrastructure. The findings underscore that reliable childcare supports today’s workforce and develops tomorrow’s, and that cross-sector collaboration is essential to expanding access, strengthening the childcare workforce, and improving economic outcomes statewide.
- Insufficient childcare costs Hawaii an estimated $1.18 billion annually in lost economic activity
- The state loses approximately $396 million in tax revenue each year due to childcare issues
- Hawaii employers incur an estimated $787 million annually from childcare-related absenteeism and turnover
- 100% of surveyed parents missed work or class at least once in the past three months because of childcare problems
- 53% of parents reported leaving a job in the past year as a direct result of childcare challenges
- 50% of families reported leaving a job, turning down a job, or significantly changing jobs in the past year due to childcare issues
- Childcare shortages are most acute for infants and toddlers, with capacity meeting only a fraction of need
- Families with young children spend an average of $484 per month on childcare, often from personal budgets
- Parents across income levels identified affordability as the leading factor when choosing care arrangements
- Childcare barriers disproportionately affect labor force participation, especially among mothers
- The report highlights both immediate impacts (missed work, absences, job changes) and lasting impacts (lost wages, stalled career advancement, reduced educational attainment)