Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/employer-child-care-continues-to-grow-and-consolidate/5010907/
"I don't see what all the fuss is about. In the national news, I'm always seeing these stories on centers at the worksite. But in our community, nothing's happening. Several local employers periodically make noises about child care, but nothing ever comes of it."This center director's lament is instructive.
On the national scene, employer child care has experienced another growth year, and another year of high media visibility. In a national survey recently released by Illinois-based Hewitt Associates, 85% of private employers with more than 2,000 employees offered some form of child care assistance to their employees in 1995, up from 64% in 1990 (Day Care USA, March 18, 1996).
Increasing activity in the employer arena was also reflected in the dramatic growth by the three largest employer child care management organizations. These organizations increased the licensed capacity of the centers they operate for employers by over 50% last year.
But, on the local level, employer activity is often little more than a blip on the radar screen. Even with all the growth in worksite child care in recent years, still barely more than one out of every 100 centers in the nation are ...