Arkansas Employer
Child Care
Resource Hub
By 
Providing tools and resources to the Arkansas business community, to help employers understand the array of options to better support the child care needs of their employees.
When it comes to today’s competitive jobs market, recruiting and retaining talented employees is essential for every business. The best way to recruit and retain top talent is by understanding why employees look to leave a job and what policies could foster company loyalty and a culture of respect and engagement that leads to higher productivity.
41%
of working-age Arkansans are left on the sidelines of employment, a talent pool just waiting to be tapped.1
76%
of Arkansas parents have missed work in the last three months due to child care challenges 2
54%
of Arkansans said they or someone in their household has left a job, not taken a job or changed jobs in the last 12 months because of child care responsibilities.3
Retaining just
1%
of Arkansans said they or someone in their household has left a job, not taken a job or changed jobs in the last 12 months because of child care responsibilities.5
54%
of Gen Z moms have considered leaving their jobs because the cost and related stress of childcare outweigh earnings. 6
1*St. Louis Fed , 2 & 3*U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 2021 , 4*Mom’s First, 2024 , 5*KinderCare, 2024
Child Care Solutions
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We can help you get started
Explore resources to building your case for child care or contact us for more support.
Business Coalition Members
Representatives from more than 90 businesses, nonprofits, and chambers of commerce across the state have joined forces to participate in this effort.
About the Toolkit
Since 2020, Excel by Eight has mobilized Arkansas businesses in the form a Business Coalition to identify workable solutions that address the three critical elements of the child care crisis – accessibility, affordability, and quality – and its impact on the state’s current and future workforce. Quality child care is essential to a thriving Arkansas economy and businesses can play a key role in expanding access to child care for employees.
Our strategic partners
Ingeborg Initiatives is on a mission to empower mothers in the state of Arkansas by improving maternal health, advancing women’s economic opportunity and expanding access to quality care and early learning opportunities for children. Ingeborg Initiatives partners with organizations that are reimagining the economics of childcare in order to increase access to care for families and to improve the quality of early learning opportunities in Arkansas.
Excel by 8 and its business coalition members, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce / Associated Industries of Arkansas and the Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, are part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Early Childhood and Business Advisory Council. This relationship allows Arkansas to draw on the Foundation’s thought partnership to address child care challenges in an Arkansas context.
Excel by 8 is grateful to the Alliance for Early Success, who funded Grace Reef of the Early Learning Policy Group, as part of its Responsive Support network, to develop the Arkansas Employer Toolkit, the predecessor to this resource hub. The Alliance is a national nonprofit that works with early childhood policy advocates at the state level to ensure that every child, birth through eight, has an equal opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.