Future Ready.
To prepare our future workforce for success, we have to start in early childhood. Family Forward NC’s focus on workplace policies that impact young children and their families is rooted in research on brain development and future success. During children’s earliest years, their experiences are built into their bodies—shaping the brain’s architecture and creating the foundation for future learning and health. In other words, everything a child experiences from birth impacts that child’s ability to fulfill his or her potential.Footnote # 1
The early years are so defining that by the time a child turns eight, his or her third-grade reading outcomes can predict future academic achievement and career success. Decades of research have established what children need to build strong brains—health and development on track from birth, supportive and supported families and communities, and high-quality birth-through-age eight learning environments with regular attendance.
“American business depends on a strong workforce, now and in the future, to compete and succeed globally. But America is facing an unprecedented workforce crisis: a large and growing shortage of skilled workers. One root of this problem is that we’ve underestimated the importance of the earliest years of life.”
— US Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Family-friendly policies support working parents on the job, allow businesses to recruit and retain talent, and help prepare North Carolina’s future workforce.
Access to stable, high-quality early care and education is crucial to ensure children develop on track and are prepared for school and life success. Yet working families in every county are struggling to find child care, and even when care is available, it’s often unaffordable.
- Every county in North Carolina is considered an infant and toddler child care desert, meaning there are five or more children for every one space available in a high-quality program. Footnote # 2
- The supply of high-quality child care in North Carolina does not meet the demand. As of 2022, licensed child care programs in the state only had space for 27% of infants and toddlers with working parents overall, and only 16% of infants and toddlers in rural counties. Several rural communities have capacity to serve less than five percent of infants and toddlers.Footnote # 3
- Widespread shortages and high turnover among child care teachers - primarily due to low compensation and lack of benefits - decrease the availability of child care for working parents and impact stability for young children.Footnote # 4
- Add a fourth bullet: Child care for two children—an infant and a 4-year-old—costs families an average of $17,593 per year. That’s 41% more than average rent in North Carolina.Footnote # 5
By 2031 an estimated 68% of jobs in North Carolina will require some post-secondary education.Footnote # 6 Currently, only 57% of North Carolinians age 25-44 meet this requirement.Footnote # 7
“The foundation for school, career and life success is largely determined through the development of cognitive and character skills beginning in children’s earliest years.”
—Nobel Laureate Economist, Professor James J. Heckman
Currently, the majority of NC children are not meeting key predictors of future academic success and higher education attainment.
32% of 4th graders scored at or above proficient in reading in North Carolina in 2022 as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.Footnote # 9
Disparities abound, 44% of white children scored at or above a proficient reading score compared to 17% of Black children and 21% of Hispanic or Latino children in 2022. Footnote # 10
In 2023, only 15.2% of North Carolina 11th graders met all four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks.Footnote # 11