Op-Ed | Opportunity Starts Here: Where Working Families Can Build Their Future

The following is an op-ed piece authored by Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ashli Watts

Across Kentucky, families are working hard to build a life, raise their children, and put down roots. They want the same things generations before them wanted: the stability of a good job and a safe place to call home and raise their kids.

But for too many Kentuckians, the path toward the American Dream has become more challenging, with only 53 percent of U.S. adults viewing it as even achievable anymore. Even with strong job growth and new economic investments being made, many working families are struggling to find reliable child care and a home they can afford in the community they love.

Research by the Chamber, for example, shows that child care – if you can even find it – can cost nearly 20 percent of what a Kentucky family makes in a year. Similarly, the cost of a home has risen to 4.5 times annual household incomes in some Kentucky areas.

When families can build stable lives here, our workforce grows stronger, our businesses expand, and our communities thrive. That is why the Chamber is focused on keeping the cost of living in Kentucky within reach — because affordability isn’t just a family concern, it is one of the most powerful workforce strategies we have. It’s the foundation of Kentucky’s long-term success.

To grow our workforce, we must support the people who power it.

Child care and housing are often discussed separately, but for working families, they are inseparable. Many parents cannot take or hold a job without access to reliable child care. In fact, we estimate child care challenges may be keeping between 16,000 and 28,000 parents out of Kentucky’s workforce. Similarly, a family cannot put down roots or plan for their future without attainable housing close to work. Our research shows that Kentucky may need to build between 360,000 and 530,000 new housing units by 2050 to keep up with population growth and ensure a healthy housing market. Without child care and housing, many families struggle to gain stability, miss opportunities to take a job or get promoted, delay having children or buying a home, and face stress that weighs on their daily lives and future.

In a recent survey, Kentucky employers identified workforce development and affordable housing as the top issues state leaders should address. Employers feel the weight these challenges place on their employees and communities. Kentucky businesses care deeply about their people, and they know their workforce is the lifeblood of their success.

As the state’s largest business organization, the Chamber’s role is to help ensure the cost-of-living factors that shape family decisions don’t stand in the way of economic progress. Supporting working parents means recognizing these needs as essential to the success of the workforce, the strength of businesses, and the vitality of the community.

Kentucky has momentum—and we must build on it.

Kentucky has already taken important steps in supporting child care, with investments by the General Assembly making a real difference for families and employers.

Moving forward, we need to continue supporting effective child care programs, modernize regulations to make it easier to open and expand centers, and encourage employer-driven and community-based solutions, especially in rural areas and for non-traditional shifts. And we must support the early educators who make this system work every day.

At the same time, we must take deliberate steps to expand housing availability. Kentucky needs more homes of all types—starter homes for young families, rental options near job centers, and attainable housing that keeps workers in the communities where they live and serve. Streamlined permitting, incentives for communities planning for growth, and strong public-private partnerships will help us get there.

Now is the time to champion policies that expand access to child care and housing, support working families, and help employers with the workforce they need to grow.

Affordability needs to be the focus of policymakers across Kentucky. If we want Kentucky to remain a place where hard work leads to opportunity, we must stay focused on the foundations that make work possible.

Visit www.OpportunityStartsHere.com and join us in supporting policies that strengthen Kentucky’s workforce by strengthening the families who power it.