S.C. lawmakers consider offering child-care services for state workers
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The state of South Carolina is considering a plan to offer child-care services to some state workers, a move the Department of Social Services says, to its knowledge, would be for the first time ever.
A recent report found child care for the average American family costs more than the average rent in all 50 states, and a lack of affordable and accessible child care is a leading cause for many young parents leaving the workplace.
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“I think it’s important we recognize just how important childcare and access to childcare is, especially for state employees, and I should add, affordable child care,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg.
This idea is part of a future move of a handful of state agencies’ headquarters out of Columbia to a new t campus in Lexington County.
Cobb-Hunter proposed that as part of that move, the state should consider offering on-site childcare services to the employees working there, an idea now being explored.
The South Carolina Department of istration says it’s identified an area on the new campus where a child-care center could be located and it’s in the process of surveying how much interest there’d be for this service among employees.
Studies have found access to child care can increase worker productivity. In this case, increased productivity could come in positions that keep the state operating.
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“It’s not just a family problem. This is a problem for communities, this is a problem for businesses, and the greater opportunities and the greater access that we could have for child care, everyone in South Carolina will benefit,” Children’s Trust of South Carolina spokesperson Bett Williams said.
Cobb-Hunter said she also believes this could make state jobs more attractive to potential employees who could then spur similar investments in the private sector as they compete for those same workers.
She says questions about how much, if anything, these services would cost and which state employees would be eligible to participate would be figured out later if this idea does come to fruition.
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