Georgia’s early care and education industry generates some $4.1 billion in economic activity in the state annually and provides more than 60,000 jobs serving an estimated 383,379 children, according to a new research study carried out by faculty at UGA and Georgia State University.
The study, commissioned by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, is the first comprehensive look at the economic impact of the early care and education industry in the state. Carl Vinson Institute of Government child and family policy faculty members Juanita Blount-Clark and Angela Fertig directed the research, which included a unique survey of child care providers coordinated by Kelly Foster, a Vinson Institute survey research specialist. The responses from 4,748 center-based providers and family child care providers constituted the data for the economic analysis and yielded current information about the industry overall. Another member of the research team, Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, an associate professor of educational psychology in UGA’s College of Education, provided information about the populations surveyed and helped interpret the results within the context of current trends in early care and education environments.
The full report and other related documents are available online (www.cviog.uga.edu/services/research/childcare/).