Though the importance of early childhood education (ECE) in the United States has gained attention for its economic, social, emotional, and intellectual benefits to children and society, research tells us little about the impact ECE, specifically child care, has on parents' ability to be productive members of the labor market and economy. Following a recent report from Louisiana that calculates the high cost of child care conflicts (also referred to as breakdowns, problems, or issues in this paper) to employers and the state economy, this report looks at the cost of such breakdowns in Maryland. With help from the authors of the Louisiana report, the Maryland research team drafted a revised survey that included Maryland-specific questions, the Maryland Child Care Survey. A professional polling company contacted a sample of parents with children age 5 and under who had worked in the past year. Parents answered questions about child care and employment, incidence of child care problems, and how these problems affected their employment. Parents also provided basic demographic information about family composition, income, location, and educational attainment. The researchers, using conventional methods, analyzed the data and calculated the cost of child care break-downs. (author abstract)