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Workforce Priorities

2025 Priority: Child Care

More than 650,000 households in Tennessee are home to children under the age of 18. In order to participate in our state’s labor force, many of the parents heading those households need child care services.

 

To sustain Tennessee’s economic development for the long term in the face of slowly declining population growth, our state can’t rely only upon in-migration to grow our workforce. Identifying and optimizing public policies that make quality child care more available and affordable can help more Tennessee parents report for duty in our labor force.

What We Think

  • Affordable, quality child care is essential for Tennesseans to enter and stay in the workforce

  • Employers are ready to help—but need state policy that supports child care investment

  • Regulatory and financial hurdles keep too many providers from starting or expanding their businesses

  • Workforce policy must reflect real-world needs and real family demands

What We Want

  • Revise state and local policies to help child care providers start or expand their businesses

  • Encourage employer-child care partnerships by reducing policy and regulatory barriers

  • Adopt tax credits and grants that incentivize employers to offer child care benefits

  • Support a stable and accessible child care system as core workforce infrastructure

Why It Matters to Business

  • Lack of child care keeps skilled workers—especially parents—from re-entering or staying in the labor force

  • Turnover, absenteeism, and reduced productivity cost businesses time and money

  • Businesses want to invest in their people—but need policy to match that effort

  • Solving workforce gaps means supporting the whole worker, not just their resume

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Child care is not a personal problem—it’s a statewide workforce solution.

How the Roundtable Leads

  • Amplify the business case for child care with policymakers and state agencies

  • Partner with members to identify innovative employer-led models

  • Support regional discussions that connect workforce gaps to real-life barriers

  • Offer recommendations that align public incentives with business investment

Related Issues We Track

  • Talent pipeline and credential quality (see Education Policy →)

  • Labor force participation

  • Transportation and regional access

  • Employer benefits and retention strategies

Want to Join the Effort?

The Roundtable’s Workforce Council brings business leaders together to shape policies that support a stronger, more inclusive labor force. Want to be part of that work?

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