Highlights: - Parental absences cost Louisiana businesses $762 million annually from missed work, turnovers, and other related costs. - The impact to the economy goes beyond individual employers. These absences have a $1.3 billion total impact on the Louisiana economy. - Lack of access to high-quality early care and education has amplified these costs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disrupted schooling, quarantines, and unexpected job changes have illustrated the necessity of quality, stable child care to both working parents and employers. - Although high-quality early care and education is linked to a trained and stable workforce, Louisiana’s child care workforce receives some of the lowest pay in the nation and has limited education beyond high school. Workers tend to have a short tenure at their job and within the industry, influencing the quality of care for young children in Louisiana. (author abstract)