(Radio Iowa) — A new report says Iowa’s economy loses nearly one-billion dollars annually from parents having problems getting childcare. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report says childcare breakdowns cause Iowa employers to lose 781 million annually from absences and employees quitting. It also says the state misses out on another 153 million in annual tax revenue.

Jillian Herink, executive director of the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children, says Iowa has one of the highest percentages of working parents, but at the same time is losing childcare providers at “an alarming rate”. The Iowa Women’s Foundation reports lack of access is growing in part because Iowa has lost 40 percent of its childcare businesses since 2012 and the state’s childcare workers are among the lowest paid occupations.