Child care was the focus at the Connect Meeting in Knoxville hosted by Marion County Development, discussing the child care crisis in Iowa.

Speakers for the meeting included Sheri Penny, Iowa Women’s Foundation; Heidi Schlueter, First Children’s Finance; Juliane Davis and Megan Davison with Child Care Resource and Amy Blanchard, Early Childhood Iowa.

Statistics show 76 percent of households with children under the age of six have all parents working outside the home. The average starting wage of child care workers in Iowa is $10.76, the third lowest paid profession. 

When companies provide child care benefits job turnover declines by as much as 60 percent. The percent of child care businesses lost in Iowa over the past ten years is 56 percent.