Public Child Care

Question A: Work requirements for publicly funded child care will reduce unemployment rates.

Question B: The Child Care Cred affordability program will improve childhood educational outcomes in Ohio.

Question C: The Child Care Cred affordability program will increase labor force participation rates among parents.

Question A: Work requirements for publicly funded child care will reduce unemployment rates.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Disagree	5	Unemployment measures the percent of the labor force that is LOOKING for work. Most parents who are staying home with their children because they can't afford childcare are NOT unemployed because they are not looking for work. This would increase the incentive for more Ohioans to participate in the labor force and LOOK for work. But this reason for increased unemployment isn't necessarily a bad thing because it would be caused by incentivizing people who hadn't been part of the labor force to join it and it would probably be a very small effect anyway.
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Strongly Disagree	7	almost all daycare subsidy recipients use the daycare money to free up time to engage in market work already
Ron Cheung	Oberlin College	Disagree	5
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Uncertain	5	Why would you need work requirements for childcare? Parents only pay for childcare when they are working.
Vinnie Gajjala	Tiffin Univeristy	Agree	8
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Disagree	6
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Uncertain	5
Christian Imboden	Bowling Green State University	Uncertain	5	People might get jobs to get subsidized child care - but only if the additional earnings minus cost to parent is worth it
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Agree	8
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Disagree	9	Work requirements are a bureaucratic hurdle that will make child care less accessible to the people that need it most.
Bill LaFayette	Regionomics	Uncertain	6	I am guessing that most parents accessing publicly funded childcare are working already. The problem is that nearly full-time jobs mandated by the new requirement may not be available to some parents receiving the benefit now. That could cause them to leave the labor force.
Trevon Logan	Ohio State University	Disagree	8
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Uncertain	6
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Agree	7
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Disagree	7	Work requirements have been shown to increase labor force participation in some contexts. I am not sure if it would in this case but many of the people affected are not currently in the labor market which means that they are not counted as part of the unemployment rate calculation.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Strongly Disagree	8	Studies show work requirements do not have a meaningful impact on unemployment
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Uncertain	8
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Disagree	5

Question B: The Child Care Cred affordability program will improve childhood educational outcomes in Ohio.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Agree	4	Most children in America grow up in households that earn well below the median income with parents who did not graduate from college. Most children in America have gotten an educational boost by going to professional childcare centers because the average American kid grows up low-income, low-education household where they get less mental stimulation than they would get in a professional childcare center. Of course, increasing the quality of the childcare is the key and not all childcare centers are high quality. Plus, higher-income, educated parents who choose to stay home to raise their kids provide very high-quality care at home on average, but, sadly, most American kids don't get high-quality care at home, so it is not a very high bar for a professional childcare center to provide more educational stimulation than most kids get at home.
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Agree	7	there is pretty strong evidence that attending a quality daycare causes increased school performance, especially initially, and wages later in life
Ron Cheung	Oberlin College	Agree	5
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Agree	8
Vinnie Gajjala	Tiffin Univeristy	Agree	8
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Agree	9
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Strongly Agree	8
Christian Imboden	Bowling Green State University	Agree	8	Should reduce parental stress and free up parental income for other expenditures that can benefit the child
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Strongly Disagree	6	A growing body of research shows that mothers who spend more time at home with their young children, rather than rushing back to work, see better outcomes for both themselves and their children. E.g. mothers who take more time at home after giving birth experience better mental health and improved well-being. In addition, children who spend more time with a parent in their early years (rather than in institutional care) can realize increased cognitive skills and stronger emotional development. In short, when mothers have the time and support to stay home longer, families thrive. Ohio shouldn't be creating incentives that encourage parents to spend less time with their children.
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Disagree	8
Bill LaFayette	Regionomics	Strongly Agree	9	Professional childcare will better prepare children for school.
Trevon Logan	Ohio State University	Uncertain	8
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Agree	8
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Agree	7
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Disagree	7	I think that quality child care would improve educational outcomes but I am skeptical of this particular program. It is a low amount of funding, it is not clear how many firms will participate and it does not last long. Could be an interesting "pilot" but would need to be expanded to see effects.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Uncertain	5	I don't know enough about it to offer an informed opinion on its impact on childhood education.
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Agree	9
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Agree	7

Question C: The Child Care Cred affordability program will increase labor force participation rates among parents.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Strongly Agree	8	See first comment.
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Agree	7
Ron Cheung	Oberlin College	Agree	6
Kevin Egan	University of Toledo	Agree	8	Children are future workers. Support during their first five years is critical. I have always found it odd how much we support elderly but we don’t have the same support for children. The child poverty rate is more than double the elderly poverty rate.
Vinnie Gajjala	Tiffin Univeristy	Agree	8
Nancy Haskell	University of Dayton	Agree	9
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Agree	7
Christian Imboden	Bowling Green State University	Uncertain	5	see first comment
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Agree	5
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Disagree	8
Bill LaFayette	Regionomics	Strongly Agree	9	Unsubsidized childcare is unaffordable even for many middle-income parents. According to a recent WSJ article, 212,000 women aged 20 and older left the U.S. workforce in the first half of 2025, far more than the 44,000 men who entered the workforce over the same period. This departure coincided with many large employers unwinding their remote work privileges.
Trevon Logan	Ohio State University	Uncertain	8
Michael Myler	University of Mount Union	Uncertain	5
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Agree	7
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Disagree	7	Like my prior answer, I think that child care could increase participation but this particular program is not enough to make it happen.
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Strongly Disagree	8	Studies show work requirements do not have a meaningful impact on labor force participation
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Strongly Agree	8
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Agree	7