Issue 11.36

September 12, 2025

EPISODE 27 | IT IMPACTS EVERYONE

FEATURING MADELEINE BAYARD AND CARRIE LEISHMAN

Child care isn’t just a family concern. It’s a business issue. Behind every statistic are real families making tough choices about career growth and child care. In Delaware and across the country, the cost, availability, and quality of child care directly impact whether parents can work, take promotions, or stay in the labor force at all. In this episode, Kelly is joined by Madeleine Bayard from Rodel, and Carrie Leishman from the Delaware Restaurant Association to explore how affordability, access, flexibility, and quality in child care affect Delaware’s workforce challenges and opportunities.

Listen to the episode on your favorite streaming platform >

Check out past episodes of the Delaware Deep Dive podcast >

ASSESSING CHILD CARE IMPACTS

2025 DELAWARE EMPLOYER SURVEY

Is your business impacted by child care challenges? You’re not alone. Delaware employers lose $415 million every year from turnover and absenteeism tied to child care gaps.

The 2025 Employer Survey on Child Care seeks to to better understand how these challenges affect your workforce and your business. Take the survey >

FAST FACT: Delaware families spend an average of $20,000/year per child—or 38% of their income—on child care. The state has licensed capacity for only 35,000 children, yet there are 54,000 children under 5—as low as 1 slot for every 7 children in some areas. Read more >

DEVELOPING DELAWARE

FROM POLICY TO PRACTICE

Thursday, October 9 | 8:30 am - 1:00 pm

At Developing Delaware, DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson and Steven Smailer, director of the division of water, will discuss the department’s ongoing reforms following the passage of HB 175, which updated DNREC’s decades-old fee structures. With the goal of improving service delivery, expediting permit decisions, and driving cultural changes within the agency, the conversation will cover progress made to date as well as what businesses and organizations who depend on efficient, predictable permitting can expect moving forward. Register and view full agenda >

INTERN DELAWARE ENTERS A NEW CHAPTER

When Intern Delaware was first launched in 2019, it was built on a simple but powerful idea: if rising talent could experience everything Delaware has to offer — its people, its employers, its unique sense of community — they’d be more likely to stay.

Now, as The Partnership evolves into the Delaware State Chamber Foundation, Intern Delaware is entering its next chapter — transitioning to Leadership Delaware, Inc. (LDI), where it will continue its mission with new energy and expanded possibility.