Cost and availability are barriers many Kentucky families face when it comes to childcare.(BBC Creative / Unsplash)A new partnership led by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce aims to get more employers across the commonwealth to invest in their employees’ childcare.As part of the initiative, the cha mber plans to work with the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation and Louisville’s Thrive By 5 program to educate employers about how they can support working parents. Since 2022, Kentucky has offered matching grants to businesses that agree to contribute to paying for childcare through its Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership Program.Ashli Watts, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber, said at a press conference Thursday that it's an opportunity for employers.“Some businesses may want to help their employees [access] better childcare, others may want to help expand childcare options in their own communities,” Watts said. “The Kentucky Chamber Foundation will work … to understand their needs, identify options that make sense for the businesses and then help put those solutions in place.”According to figures from the Chamber’s Center for Policy and Research, as many as 28,000 Kentucky parents could reenter the workforce if they had better access to affordable childcare. That could generate up to $1 billion annually in new wages and state tax revenues.Nationally, more than 42% of women who left the workforce in 2025 cited the cost of childcare as a factor, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The average cost that year was $13,128.State Sen. Julie Raque Adams, a Republican from Louisville, cosponsored the legislation in 2022 creating the state's assistance program. She also worked on an omnibus childcare bill approved by the General Assembly this year that streamlines regulations on childcare facilities and legalizes small, single-classroom facilities known as childcare micro-centers.Adams said Thursday the state is setting aside the funding to help meet the needs of working families and this initiative could help more employers take advantage of it.“Parents want to provide for their families and know their children are receiving good care and employers want to keep their good employees and help them to succeed,” she said. “Affordable, reliable childcare makes both possible.”The state’s employee childcare assistance program is based on need, meaning the overall benefit depends on the family size and income level of individual employees. Families making below the state’s median household income, about $105,000 for a family of four, receive more assistance than families earning more.Details on the program for employers and families are available at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services website. ...read more read less