Policy Spotlight: Child Care Benefits Get the Royal Treatment
The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle says “child care isn’t just a community imperative — it’s a business imperative. Creating a stronger workforce starts with meeting the needs of families.”
Child care benefits are helping businesses and organizations to set themselves apart in the competition for workers. New research from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry finds:
7 out of 10 moms with kids under 5 are more likely to choose an employer that offered on-site child care or benefits to help pay for child care;
More than 8 in 10 reported that child care benefits are important in deciding to stay or to switch employers.
These data are actually from the Marshall Plan for Moms’ new report, “The Business Case for Child Care: How Parent-Focused Employee Value Propositions Help Companies Win the War for Talent.” But the power couple did sign on to support the Marshall Plan for Moms’ new “National Business Coalition for Child Care,” announced this week.
“Families everywhere, and especially working moms, are asked to shoulder so much,” says The Duchess of Sussex, mom of two and Co-Founder of Archewell. “This has only been heightened by the pandemic, with increased caregiving responsibilities, rising prices, and economic uncertainty…we’re sending a message that child care isn’t just a community imperative — it’s a business imperative. Creating a stronger workforce starts with meeting the needs of families.”
Leading businesses and organizations Athletes Unlimited, Care.com, Fast Retailing, Gibson Dunn, Patagonia, and Synchrony have also signed on, part of the rising awareness of child care’s role in healthy economies and businesses.
Pandemic-related disruptions to child care have cost parents with young children under 5 approximately $13 billion a year in lost income since 2020. (Fun fact, the universal child care bill vetoed by President Nixon in 1971 was funded at ~$14.5 billion in today’s dollars.)
Meanwhile, the share of parents with young children under 5 at work is down 4.2 percent, “most likely because of acute child care shortages this year,” writes Clair Cain Miller in the New York Times: “Centers have been unable to hire enough teachers, and because children under 5 can’t yet be vaccinated, there are many more interruptions for illness and quarantines. This has made it particularly difficult for mothers without college degrees to work.”
Fortunately, employers are providing more child care benefits these days as the pandemic exacerbates issues that had already made childcare a frontline issue for millions of working families and their employers nationwide. 56% of employers reported offering some form of child care benefits per Care.com’s 2022 Future of Benefits report, up from roughly 50% of HR professionals who reported their companies planned to offer or expand child care benefits last year.
“Employees are demanding that employers offer care benefits,” says Natalie Mayslich, general manager of Care.com’s consumer and enterprise operations. “Investing in care benefits is now table stakes for many employers. In order to stay competitive in recruiting and retaining employees, companies will need to continue to up their game in this area.”
This is welcome news in a country that UNICEF ranks 40 out of 41 rich countries on child-care policies. Smart business leaders recognize child care as an imperative for recruitment, retention, their bottom lines and the U.S. economy overall. They’re stepping up to do their part. Policymakers who oppose universal child care should do the same, for families, our economy and country.
