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Business

As a business leader, you have a powerful voice to improve tomorrow’s economy through smart policy investments in young children today. Investing in young children is a U.S. economic imperative.

Business leaders need:

  • the best, most skilled employees now and in the future- ones who can create new products, solve complex problems and motivate teams to excel,
  • employees who can focus on their jobs and not be distracted because their children are in poor quality care,
  • public policies that support development of the next generation for workers, so that they can continue to innovate and lead.

Before the age of five, children establish the building blocks of their academic and social skills. That’s why improving children’s lives in their earliest years is not only the right thing to do, but also what businesses need to succeed.

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Research shows that children who enter kindergarten ready to succeed grow to be the book-smart, team-capable, job-ready workers who can help businesses prosper, and the productive citizens who help communities thrive.

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We don’t have the workforce we need…

The strength of our labor force is the key to global competitiveness- greater productivity, more growth and higher profits.

  • 20% of current workers are functionally illiterate.
  • Less than half of the children in every state are proficient in reading and math. In 2006, U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 25th out of 30 developed countries in math, and 21st in science.
  • 54% of business leaders said they expect to have difficulty finding enough educated and skilled workers in the future.

To learn more, visit The Partnership for America’s Economic Success (www.partnershipforsuccess.org), a national coalition of business leaders that are improving tomorrow’s economy through smart investments in young children today.

 

 

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Did You Know?

Did You KnowDid You Know
  • 90% of a child’s brain is developed by the age of 5.
  • 78% of parents of children under 6 in South Hampton Roads work outside the home, and must find care for thier children.
  • 1 in 8 children in our region arrives at kindergarten not ready.
  • Children who start school behind tend to stay behind.
  • Nationally, 49% of children arriving at school unprepared come from middle and upper income families.
  • 18% of kindergartners held back in Virginia live in South Hampton Roads.
  • Holding back a child in kindergarten adds almost $8,000 to the public cost of that child’s education.
  • 3rd grade reading level is a powerful predictor: for those who fail the 3rd grade reading test, half will also fail the 5th grade.
  • In fact, 62% of Virginia’s students cannot read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade.
  • A working, middle class family, with two young children, will spend on average 29% of their income on child care.


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