Northwest Indiana Forum Foundation Releases Regional Childcare Investment Strategy to Fuel Workforce and Economic Growth

Portage, Ind., November 19, 2025 – The Northwest Indiana Forum Foundation announced the release of A Northwest Indiana Childcare Investment Strategy – Fueling Workforce and Economic Growth, a comprehensive analysis of the region’s childcare landscape and its impact on employers, employees, and long-term economic vitality.

Employers across Northwest Indiana continue to face significant challenges in providing effective childcare support. For many small- and medium-sized businesses, offering comprehensive childcare benefits can be cost-prohibitive. Others may lack awareness of the value such benefits provide—including increased productivity, improved retention, and higher employee satisfaction—or may be unfamiliar with existing childcare tax credits available to employers.

Operational barriers also persist. Establishing on-site childcare requires adequate space, proper licensing, and ongoing management. Additionally, childcare needs differ widely among employees based on their children’s ages, work schedules, and household structures, making a single, universal solution difficult to implement.

Until now, the region lacked accurate, robust data to understand how many work-ready parents struggle with childcare access. This new study fills that gap, providing a detailed, reliable assessment of the benefits landscape and the current pressures facing both families and employers.

“The data shows an estimated 5,000 work-willing parents in Northwest Indiana are not in the full-time workforce today due to the barriers they face. Forty-two percent of those surveyed cite prohibitive costs as the leading challenge.” said Jennifer Gadzala, Northwest Indiana Forum Foundation Grants Director and study lead.

The vitality of Northwest Indiana’s economy is closely tied to the strength of its workforce. Across the seven-county region—Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, and Starke—access to affordable, high-quality childcare has emerged as a critical factor influencing labor participation, business productivity, and household stability. When childcare systems fall short, the consequences ripple across communities, affecting employers, families, and local and state revenues.

The Northwest Indiana Childcare Investment Strategy delivers a data-driven, evidence-based examination of these challenges. The report quantifies existing childcare gaps and their economic implications, captures the perspectives and needs of employers and early learning providers, and highlights successful intervention models from around the country that could be adapted for Northwest Indiana.

Building on this work, the Northwest Indiana Forum Foundation will collaborate with First Things First Porter County and a broad coalition of employers, early learning providers, philanthropic partners, and community leaders to prioritize solutions and drive regional action. Together, these partners will work to advance strategies that support working families, strengthen the labor force, and enhance economic competitiveness across the region.

For more information or to access the full strategy, please contact Jennifer Gadzala at the Northwest Indiana Forum Foundation at 219-763-6303 or visit https://www.nwiforum.org/childcare-strategy.