A new report indicates there are barriers holding back Arkansas women from fully entering the economy. That report comes from United WE, a Missouri-based think tank that focuses on women's labor force participation and civic leadership. The report is a culmination of four in-person town halls across the state, as well as a virtual statewide town hall.
Wendy Doyle is United WE's president and CEO. She says the main objective of these town halls was to listen.
Doyle: Just to make sure that we are on point with what we should be prioritizing as an organization, but educating and sharing more broadly across the state of Arkansas. So some of what we learned, a top shelf priority is just around caregiving more broadly in the state of Arkansas. And that ranges from child care, but it also includes elder care as well. And depending on where you're located in the state, you have more accessibility to resources than more rural parts of the state, but it certainly is an economic barrier. It's a workforce participation barrier. It's something that we learned and want to keep top of mind for the state of Arkansas, to figure out what we can do to make it easier to keep families in the workforce.
Moore: There's plenty of data points to talk about in this study. We'll have a link to it on our website, but I want to start here. 90% of participants in your town hall located in Northwest Arkansas reported that they have caregiving responsibilities, and 30% of them said caregiving was a barrier to labor force participation. Does this seem high? Does this seem on par with other town halls you've had?
Doyle: Absolutely. And frankly, this is really why as an organization we have prioritized this. And it wasn't really until we started listening that it became such a priority. We identified this coming out of the pandemic, and we've certainly started to see some additional progress that's being made. But what was valuable about doing this town hall sessions around the state is we wanted to see, have we made progress or is this still a significant barrier? And what we learned is it's still a significant barrier even coming out of what we learned from the pandemic. I think what we've also seen is some companies are requiring back to work. That started this year, and actually in 2025, so that has really created more families in a position of having to choose, do I work or am I going to, do we have childcare accessibility? So that's something that we've really leaned into.
Another key research report that United WE has done, just kind of connecting to that barrier, is around child care licensing in the state of Arkansas, city, county, but certainly state level. And we partnered with University of Arkansas to complete that research study. It was fascinating. It was both looking at data and facts from a quantitative perspective, but we also did focus group sessions of actual child care providers. What we want, to make it easy to create some solutions so families aren't having to be put in that position, is to be able to do business of childcare. So there's been great progress that's been made in the state. We're so proud of that work. We're proud of that research report as well. That's been shared with the Office of Early Childhood. And there's some great progress and work that's being done around licensing regulation in the state. So we're chipping away at it. But it is, Matthew, I think what we take away, it's a complex problem and not a one solution to solve the child care challenge.
Moore: Is it hard to have the conversation of we're making progress, but we still have a long way to go?
Doyle: Absolutely. I mean, everyone wants to wave the magic wand and have child care supply meeting the demand, having it be affordable, accessible and high quality. That's the waving the magic wand. But we're slowly making progress. And this problem didn't happen overnight. The pandemic certainly shined a beacon on the challenge. But what's great is the awareness really leads to looking at the data, the research, which then leads to solutions. So it's a long game, but the right people are listening, paying attention and coming up with solutions. It's just going to take some time.
Moore: You addressed it a moment ago, but I think it's worth talking about more, is that caregiving is not limited to children, that it's caring for elderly family members, too.
Doyle: Yes. More than 80 million Americans across the country have caregiving responsibilities in elder care as our population is aging. We're certainly starting to hear and see more and more corporations that are talking about that more broadly, the caregiving. And a lot of our workforce in Arkansas is in that sandwich generation. So you're not only caring for child care, but you're also caring for elder care. Again, put strain on the resources, put strain on the caregiver. And what we're trying to do is provide some relief so that people don't again have to choose and they can maintain staying in the workforce and contributing to the overall economy.
One thing that United WE is doing, because this has become so prevalent, we've developed a partnership with AARP and we're bringing a caregiving forum to the state of Arkansas. It's complimentary. It's free. Anyone in Arkansas can join us to participate. It's a webinar. It's going to be held on Aug. 12 from 9 to 9:45 a.m. What we'll be talking about is again some statistics around the problem, but also bringing some resources that are complementary not only to the individual caregiver but also to corporations in Arkansas. So again, we want to bring some solutions to what is becoming a significant problem in Arkansas.
Moore: When we think of Northwest Arkansas, we've got three Fortune 500 companies, including the Fortune 1 company right here in the region. But your statistics show that 63% of the women and the people who participated in this are entrepreneurs. They've started their own business. Does this surprise you at all when you think about this region and that sort of entrepreneurship?
Doyle: Absolutely not. We think it's on point and it's a priority for us as an organization. What I think is fascinating, as we have gone out to town halls, we always ask the question about, have you ever thought about starting a business? And a majority of the women have. And they gravitate to that because of the child care and elder care challenge. They think needing flexibility in their work schedule to be able to provide the care. A solution they automatically think about is, I need to make money for my family. Can I start a business to be able to do all the things that I need to do? That's certainly great. As you're thinking about and dreaming and thinking about how to solve the problem, in reality, becoming an entrepreneur can be challenging. But what we want to do in the state of Arkansas is create an entrepreneurial culture. So we want more businesses that just drives, grows the overall economy. So we're thrilled. It's not a surprise. It's top of mind for a lot of women as they continue to look for flexibility, but still provide for their families.
Moore: Well, you make an interesting point. I imagined that that was why we saw so much entrepreneurship, is because you can set your own hours, you can set your own availability when you're an entrepreneur, but it also lends you to the struggles of entrepreneurship, regardless of your family's situation. And that having a steady W-2 job may mean more financial security and more health care security, but it also has that con of the lack of flexibility.
Doyle: It definitely does. It's the cost benefit analysis in both sides, staying in the workforce, working for a company. What we really talked about a lot too is that a lot of our aging community, they're running out of money, and you're seeing aging family members move in to have multiple families living under one roof. We know that when women step out of the labor force, that means that they aren't contributing to their 401(k) or to Social Security, which then puts a strain on the long term sustainability of their financial acumen. It is that cost benefit analysis. There's trade-offs in the most immediate of having that flexibility. But the long term effect is significant. So this is what we commonly refer to as the compounding effect of these economic decisions around caregiving.
Moore: Arkansas ranks 47th in women's labor force participation and 50th in women's median earnings. That's according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research. When you think about the conversations you had both in person and virtually here in Arkansas, how does that qualitative data that you gathered inform this statistic?
Doyle: Yes. Well, it is certainly on point. So I think what that tells us is that we have potential. And that's a good thing. We can look at the bright side of it. One of the areas that United WE has really leaned into just around this is occupational licensing. And we know that women need a license to do their job at three times the rate that men do. So what that means is if you're a dentist, if you're a teacher, if you're an attorney, a doctor, you need a state license to be able to practice your profession. Oftentimes when someone moves to the state of Arkansas, that license will not transfer. Every state does the licensing requirements differently. And one of the things that United WE wants, has really been prioritized, is we want to make it easier. So whether that be reciprocity, whether that be looking at, if you step out for caregiving responsibilities or to start a family, when you reenter, there are significant barriers to get your CEUs or to get relicensed. What we really are taking a look at right now, doing a national research study and then a deeper dive specifically in Arkansas, is we want to have understanding, and we want to make it easy for people to get a license, maintain a license. And if you step out and get back to work, we want to make it easy. So again, it's an economic barrier, but something that United WE is leaning into. And to the research statistics, it's on point, but we're trying to come up with some solutions. And one is right around this occupational licensing work.
Moore: Earlier this year, the Women's Foundation of Arkansas produced a report that came to similar conclusions that your report did, including that caregiving responsibilities is the main barrier to entering the workforce and that women want to work. What sort of legislative recommendations would you offer to state lawmakers with these two main pillars in mind?
Doyle: Yes, it's a great point, and a shout out to the Women's Foundation of Arkansas. They've been a great partner, and we support them and they support us. And it takes all of us to keep the conversation going. As far as solutions there, there have been multiple things around the caregiving. And we've talked about one that we really are leaning into, which is just about the ease of doing business of child care and making the state regulations modern, up to date and easy to understand, but also clearing the barriers at the city county level as well. There's requirements and regulations for child care providers there too. So trying to manage all of that as you're trying to run a business, but also care for little ones, that can be challenging. So that's something that United WE is really championing, leaning into the effort there. We also know that in some other states more broadly, there's discussion points about tax credits that can be meaningful in some places. But the state of Oklahoma, next door neighbor, has a caregiving tax credit for elder care. And that really provides some relief to those families that have multiple caregivers, but also that tax credit supports veterans as well. So something that may not be appropriate at this moment in time, but there's tools and resources that we're keeping an eye on from across the country that could be in time meaningful for Arkansas.
Wendy Doyle is the president and CEO of United WE. She joined me over Zoom last week.
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