Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/employer-child-care-growth-slows-with-the-economy/5014758/
Not surprisingly, 2002 has been a challenging year for providers of employer child care. With the economy and the stock market in the doldrums, major employers were reluctant to move forward aggressively with new work/life initiatives.In fact, for the past two years, growth has slowed considerably for employer child care. Employer child care capacity increased by 6% in 2001 and 4% in 2002, compared with an annual rate of increase of more than 10% for the previous five years (See Table 1).
The growth rate for this year was quite uneven with two-thirds of the companies surveyed actually losing capacity in the employer centers. Bright Horizons Family Solutions was the major exception to the trend, adding nearly 19% to its capacity in 2002.
Impact of the Recession
Far and away the most significant trend observed by survey respondents was the impact of the struggling economy on the demand for employer child care. Here are some typical comments:
Dr. Elanna Yalow, Knowledge Learning Corporation: "Given the economic downturn, we have found that employers are responding to the need to become more creative in pursuing their commitment to support employees' child care needs. We are committed to partnering creatively with clients in order ...