Next to the restaurant industry, child care centers may have been among the businesses hardest hit when lockdowns caused by Covid were instituted. Some in the Houston area report losing up to 90% of their business, which was their only source of income, and after months of struggling, financing a reopening is a drain.
Nicole Beasley worked in corporate American but left when her children were born, adapting her business acumen with her understanding of the needs of working families and created Emergent Ed Child Care Consulting. She says there are resources for child care businesses ramping back up. “There are even more providers that are reopening thanks to a lot of the programs, including the Small Business Administration, as well as Texas Workforce Commission and the child relief funding,” Beasley says.
It’s been a struggle all the way around, for parents as well as the mental toll the pandemic has taken on child care workers, many who suddenly found themselves unemployed. Child care providers are most often women-run businesses. But with normalcy returning, supply is finding new routes to meet demand, and centers are reopening. “Parents are able to find more centers that are reopening, and parents are again able to find child care within their area,” Beasley adds. The Chamber of Commerce reports that the number of female-owned businesses reporting “good or somewhat good” conditions for their business fell by 13% last year while male-owned businesses experienced a 5% drop.
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