How Companies Can Help Their Workers Find Childcare

Last December, CNBC reported that, according to a survey of more than 7,500 respondents from childcare centers across the country, there are childcare worker shortages in nearly every state. Wells Fargo has reported that child care employment levels are down 12.4 percent from pre-COVID-19 levels, forcing about 460,000 families to find alternative child care.

Lack of access to childcare “can contribute to perpetuating worker shortages felt in other industries, as parents struggle to find care for their kids,” CNBC reported, and this shortage certainly has contributed to women exiting the workforce. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 76 percent of businesses have had employees leave their companies, and 43 percent of those businesses said that 75 percent to 100 percent of the employees they lost were women.

Employers can help working parents address their childcare challenges. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation has created an employer roadmap to help senior leaders and business owners understand their options for supporting working parents with their childcare needs. The roadmap explores options like flexible scheduling, childcare vouchers and subsidies, onsite childcare, how to expand community childcare capacity, and more.

The National Association of Manufacturing also offers case studies of how businesses are helping parents address childcare challenges. Read more here.