10 Critical Challenges Employers Face Due to Lack of Affordable Child Care

From HR Managers to CEOs, business leaders are facing significant employee challenges due to the lack of affordable Child Care openings. From limited options forcing women out of the workforce to reduced employee productivity, Child Care is directly affecting business revenue. Here are 10 diverse perspectives from executives on this pressing issue plus action companies can take to solve the challenge.

• Limited Options Force Women Out
• Non-Existent Work-Life Balance
• Complicated Work Schedules
• Disruption to Staff Attendance
• Struggle to Find Suitable Daycare
• Reduced Staff Availability
• Dampened Team Innovation
• Workforce Diversity Challenged
• Suffering Employee Retention
• Reduction in Employee Productivity

Click here to go to how companies are solving their Child Care challenges.

Limited Options Force Women Out

For many women around the world, the cost of Child Care simply outstrips their salary. This leaves working mothers with a simple choice: make a net loss on their salary or quit work and stay home with the kids.

Many of our administrative and customer service workers are disproportionately likely to resign upon completion of their maternity leave, especially if they have multiple children. This occurs despite providing competitive salaries and generous benefits, as the cost of Child Care eventually makes work untenable for all but the highest-paid staff.

As a woman, I find it incredibly disappointing that Child Care isn’t better subsidized and that working women aren’t better supported. That this affects women almost exclusively is upsetting and deserves significantly more attention globally.

Chloe Yarwood, HR Manager, Test Partnership

Non-Existent Work-Life Balance

One of the biggest problems I see as the chief marketing officer of a leasing firm is the high cost of Child Care. Because of this problem, working parents have a harder time juggling their professional and personal commitments.

We’ve put in place several measures to deal with this difficulty. Working parents can take advantage of our flexible work schedules and remote work opportunities so that they can better manage their time with their children. The ability to better balance work and personal life is a huge stress reliever.

Taking on ‌low-cost Child Care is one way we can show we care about our staff and are serious about fostering a family-friendly culture here at work. Our mission is to help working parents in whatever way we can, including financially and logistically, so that our company may thrive.

Mike Lees, Chief Marketing Officer, LeaseAccelerator

Complicated Work Schedules

One significant challenge I’ve noticed in my team because of the lack of affordable Child Care is the difficulty in maintaining a consistent work schedule. This affects productivity and morale, but let me illustrate it with a story.

One of my top sales representatives, John, is a single father. When his regular, affordable Child Care option fell through, it threw him into a whirlwind. He started arriving late, leaving early, or having to take unexpected days off to care for his young son.

The impact was immediate—his sales performance dipped, and I could see the stress wearing him down. But the real wake-up call was how it affected the team dynamic. The consistency and reliability of our sales team were affected, and others had to pick up the slack, leading to a ripple effect of stress.

To combat this, we’re exploring partnerships with local Child Care providers for subsidized care, and piloting more flexible work policies.

John White, MBA in Sales, Manager, and Golf Instructor, John Carlton White

Disruption to Staff Attendance

One significant challenge we are grappling with because of the need for affordable Child Care is a disruption in staff attendance. The high costs of reliable Child Care services have created unforeseen hurdles in employee dependability.

This issue cuts across gender lines, affecting our male and female team members. When Child Care becomes unmanageable, or an unexpected need arises, employees often have no choice but to miss work, which leads to unpredictability in our agency’s operations.

This lack of reliable attendance puts pressure on the absent staff member’s colleagues and can lead to delays in deliverables for our clients. Thus, the need for affordable, dependable Child Care services is essential not just for the welfare of our employees but also for the efficiency and reliability of our agency’s operations.

Shane McEvoy, MD, Flycast Media

Struggle to Find Suitable Daycare

The lack of affordable Child Care in my area has made me have to settle for what I can get. At some point, I was just happy to find any daycare that had an opening for my child. But that didn’t really solve the problem. It just bought me a little time.

After getting my child into the first daycare that had an opening, I ‌had to start the entire process over again. I really wanted to find a daycare that was a good fit for my kid and a good price. It was like taking on a second job.

It really shouldn’t be that hard to find a decent daycare that is actually affordable. I found one in the end, but it took a ton of effort.

Temmo Kinoshita, Co-founder, Lindenwood Marketing

Reduced Staff Availability

One significant challenge we’re currently grappling with because of the lack of affordable childcare revolves around staff availability. To give a specific instance, we’ve noticed that one of our employees often has to juggle her responsibilities as a first aid trainer and a single parent.

She sometimes has to skip on-site training sessions or leave early to take care of her children, and this affects her overall productivity and our ability to conduct uninterrupted sessions.

The lack of affordable Child Care options is a real barrier, limiting her, and potentially others’, full participation and engagement in work. It’s a complex issue that we are actively seeking solutions for.

Hafsa Unnar, Executive Assistant, On-Site First Aid Training

Dampened Team Innovation

One challenge we’re grappling with at First Aid at Work, due to the lack of affordable Child Care, is a dampening of our innovative capabilities. If our team members are preoccupied with managing Child Care issues, they’re less available mentally to contribute to brainstorming sessions and collaborative projects.

We saw this play out recently when one of our most creative employees had to miss multiple meetings because she was dealing with Child Care arrangements. With less input from her, our brainstorming session ended up more focused on routine tasks rather than out-of-the-box solutions.

Haya Subhan, General Manager, First Aid at Work Course

Workforce Diversity Challenged

One of the most pressing challenges we’re grappling with due to the lack of affordable Child Care pertains to diversity within our workforce. Currently, our team is predominantly male. This isn’t from a lack of interest from female applicants, but it’s mostly because of their need for viable Child Care solutions.

For instance, a highly skilled female engineer we recently tried to onboard had to turn down our offer because the cost of Child Care in her locality was exorbitantly high. The situation makes it challenging for her and many other talented women to fully commit to their professions. This diversity issue is something we recognize and are actively seeking solutions for.

Ben McInerney, Founder and Director, GoSolarQuotes

Suffering Employee Retention

As Child Care becomes more and more expensive, it is an essential benefit that employees seek and makes it an easy decision to attract top talents by offering Child Care and support as part of the employee benefits.

This makes it easy to lose employees, increases employee turnover, and negatively impacts company productivity, processes, and quality, as high candidates are lost.

Max Wesman, Chief Operating Officer, GoodHire

Reduction in Employee Productivity

Employees being constantly distracted by having to find someone to take care of their children and being concerned about how they will support their children, negatively affects their productivity and even results as they cannot focus.

Jonathan Elster, CEO, EcomHalo

How Companies Are Solving Their Child Care Challenges: The Case for Child Care Benefits

CASE STUDY: MAZDA/TOYOTA MANUFACTURING

Mazda Toyota Manufacturing (MTM) is an automotive production plant in Huntsville,

AL. The facility initially employed 3,000 team members and planned to hire another 1,000 team members to increase its capacity. However, attracting experienced talent to the region had been a challenge. At the same time, a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

stated many parents still lacked the accessible and affordable Child Care they needed to return to work.

To solve both challenges of recruiting and retaining talent, MTM leveraged a cutting-edge partnership with TOOTRiS to provide Child Care Benefits for its workforce – a first in the automotive industry. As a result, since the benefit began 60% of MTM workers with dependents have signed up for the program. Initially, MTM calculated that it would make a return on its Child Care benefit investment if it cut attrition by 1%. A year after the program launch, attrition has actually dropped 11% for men and 20% for women!

Why Child Care Benefits Work for All Industries?
One Place, a North Carolina based nonprofit for children and families, states, “For decades, most businesses have created a sharp separation between the personal and the professional. However, in recent years — particularly since COVID — more and more businesses have seen the significance of supporting their employees through personal support systems, including Child Care.” That’s because a myriad of statistics reveal the need for Child Care Benefits and how they determine an employee’s status in the workforce:

• 83% of women (and 81% of men) stated that Child Care benefits are very important or somewhere important in whether they decided to stay with their current employer.
• 38% stated a main factor with staying with their current employer would be if their company helped with Child Care expenses.
• 69% of parents say that the cost of Child Care has impacted their career decisions.
• 49% of parents with children 5 years of age or younger report short-term disruptions to employment because of Child Care challenges.
• 33% of working parents have missed work due to lack of Child Care and say they would be more likely to pursue working for a company that invests in Child Care.
• Families lose an average of $5,520 per working parent in lost earnings and in more time looking for work.
• Businesses lose an average of $1,640 per working parent in reduced revenue and in extra hiring costs, an impact that could be decreased or eliminated through Child Care Benefits.

But Child Care Benefits aren’t just necessary to the lives of workers based on the concerns listed above. They are also consequential for employers who want to differentiate themselves in an aggressive hiring atmosphere. Rose states, “In today’s highly competitive job market, hiring the right talent is crucial for success, especially in the fast-paced and ever-evolving professional services sector.”

As industries strive to retain and acquire high-quality talent, it’s important to look at the outcomes for businesses that offer Child Care Benefits. According to Employee Benefit News, “Companies that lean into flexibility and offer comprehensive care benefits report higher employee satisfaction” which directly correlates to increased employee retention.

Additionally, Becky Allen, a Research Associate with the Council on Foreign Relations, reports: “A growing body of research documents the relationship between the availability of quality Child Care and benefits to business, including reduced absenteeism, employee turnover, and productivity loss, as well as improved reputation and recruitment of skilled employees…as the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) seminal report on Tackling Child Care shows, providing employees with Child Care options – whether on or offsite – is good for business. The research holds true across regions, income brackets, and sectors.”

According to One Place, “Understanding the Child Care landscape — and the depth and breadth of the crisis — as a business owner or executive can help support families and their children, leading to a stronger economy, higher productivity rates, and a more engaged workforce.”

Child Care Benefits Solve the Biggest Challenges
Child Care Benefits help combat the main issues for both and workers by helping to reduce burnout, increasing employee-employer engagement, and assisting in recruiting and retention efforts. Here’s how:

• Programs like employer-sponsored Child Care Benefits may not be considered priorities for all businesses, but when employees are able to access affordable and high-quality Child Care, they are more likely to be successful in both their work and family responsibilities – a major factor in helping to reduce stress and burnout. Overall, Child Care benefits allow employees to feel as though they are valued and supported as they strive for a positive work-life balance– a key consideration in the professional services industry where workers can feel misunderstood when it comes to their child-rearing responsibilities.
• Additionally, Child Care benefits greatly increase employee-employer relations and engagement. As companies seek to place more of a ‘human touch’ within their workforce, Child Care Benefits can tangibly show inclusivity towards working parents. Forbes reports that the pandemic has led many companies to implement Child Care Benefits as a way to provide an essential need to working parents: “… Child Care is evolving toward being flexible, relationship-centered, and focused on 21st century competencies, such as creativity, collaboration, and empathy.”
• In the professional services industry, where valuable talent must be retained, Child Care Benefits can greatly assist with retention and productivity efforts. According to Employee Benefits News, companies that offer Child Care Benefits reduce turnover by 35-60%, reduce absenteeism by 20-30%, and increase productivity by 85%.

Child Care Benefits with TOOTRiS Technology

Aside from offering employers increased retention, quality recruitment, and enhanced employee satisfaction, Child Care Benefits can actually be simple to implement and manage with

Ease of technology is key to steamlining operational and business functions whenever and wherever possible. Unlike traditional solutions, TOOTRiS Child Care Benefits are actually simple to implement and manage. TOOTRiS is a turn-key Child Care Benefits solution that provides comprehensive benefits with cutting-edge technology and minimal administration.

TOOTRiS makes the process of securing high quality Child Care incredibly efficient for employees and employers. The turn-key Child Care Benefit provides:

• Seamless integration with existing HR management systems with minimal staff time required.
• Partnering with nearly 200,000 licensed Child Care providers in every state that provide care options to meet every family need – infant to schooled aged – including care during non-traditional working hours and shifts.
• Providing easy-to-use technology (available on a mobile device or PC) for parents to easily compare, vet, and enroll in care with a new provider – even for backup or emergency situations.
• Helping employers combine employer-sponsored benefits with other Child Care support such as drawing directly from FSA set aside funds to improve utilization.
• Providing complete reporting to assist with leveraging Child Care tax credits.
• Offering employees with dedicated concierge support to ensure the best outcomes for the care of their children.

As HR Managers and CEOs are dealing with Child Care challenges, and they continually seek to retain highly-skilled employees and recruit top-level talent in a competitive hiring market, Child Care Benefits are a proven solution. Plus, they allow employers to actively demonstrate a caring corporate culture that understands the real-world struggles of many working parents today.

As One Place states, “When employers start treating Child Care with the same intensity and commitment as health care or long-term retirement benefits, they will see tremendous benefits—and harness the financial advantage of an entire workforce.”

Schedule a demo to discover more on how turn-key TOOTRiS Child Care Benefits can benefit your industry.