At the beginning of a panel discussion at the Women in Manufacturing Summit in October, Meredith Lipnick, director of private sector strategy at advocacy nonprofit Moms First, asked the audience a few questions.

She asked attendees to raise their hands if they had ever had to miss all or part of a workday to take a loved one to a doctor’s appointment, had to change their schedule because child care arrangements fell through, felt that their work life was in tension with their home life when arranging care, or all of the above.

About three-quarters of the room raised their hands, Lipnick noted.

Women are underrepresented in the manufacturing industry, comprising about 29% of the workforce, according to a 2022 report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute.

That same year, The Manufacturing Institute launched the “35×30” campaign, which aims to close the gender gap by adding about 500,000 women to the industry by 2030. That would increase women’s representation to 35%.

One of the ways the industry could achieve its goal is through flexible work schedules, “attractive” income and benefits, and work-life balance, according to the report.

“If we all work together and uplift these issues, we can really change the conversation from, ‘This is a personal problem for families to solve,’ to ‘This is a systemic issue that the public and private sector can come together to find solutions for,’” Lipnick added.

Child care tax incentive to expand

Starting Jan. 1, 2026, an existing federal child care tax incentive will expand eligibility for expenses, including third-party mediators contracted with child care facilities and facilities jointly owned by companies.

The credit rate for expenditures will rise to 50% and 60% for small businesses.

Tax incentive 45F, included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed over the summer, increased the maximum credit to $500,000. For small businesses, it’s $600,000.

In 2025, the 45F credit allowed businesses to reduce their income tax liability by up to $150,000 a year. The credit accounts for 25% of qualified child care expenses plus 10% of child care resource and referral services costs that the business incurred.

Moms First and Kindercare advocated for the changes to the policy.

Kimberly Spriggs, partnerships manager at Kindercare, said the company always hears from executives saying they know they need child care, but the biggest barrier is affordability.

By: DocMemory
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