Study says child care benefits businesses

With child care costs on the rise, a recent study compiled by the Child Care Council of Westchester Inc. examined how making child care accessible and affordable to parents can benefit businesses and increase productivity.

Nationally, 45 percent of working parents miss at least one day of work every six months because of child care problems, the study said. Each parent/employee without child care costs employers $650 to $1,000 annually for unplanned absences at work. Employees without stable child care cost employers $3 billion annually, the report said.

Conversely, employers who invested in child care support for employees benefitted from reduced turnover and absenteeism, increased productivity and better retention and recruitment, according to the report, which cross-referenced a Cornell University study.

When employers provided subsidies for child care, employees were more productive. Nationally, about 68 percent of the participants who reported using their sick days for child care emergencies do so less frequently if they receive child care subsidies. In the same Cornell study, when working parents must handle child care on their own, there was an increase in tardiness and work-family conflicts. The report showed work performance and productivity level decreased by nearly 45 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

Nearly half of Westchester residents are in the labor force, according to the website for Child Care Council of Westchester. More than 41,000 Westchester children under 6 years old have working parents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau”™s American Community Survey.

The council, a nonprofit resource and referral agency that helps families with early care and education programs, provides free services that can help parents compare prices and decide which provider best suits them.

“There are 760 regulated child care businesses in Westchester, and that doesn”™t include unlicensed programs,” said Kathleen Halas, executive director of the council. “We”™re advocating more assistance in child care benefits for families supporting themselves financially.”

The study, which is a compilation of the council”™s data from 2012, said that the agency responded to more than 3,500 calls and inquiries from parents working in 1,700 Westchester businesses in major companies, including PepsiCo Inc., IBM Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Westchester Medical Center and Yonkers Public Schools.

Of the 3,500 calls in Westchester, 46 came from the New York City Department of Education and 36 from Montefiore Medical Center.

“What we heard all across the board is that child care is very expensive, and it”™s a financial burden,” Halas said.

In Westchester, the average cost of full-time child care for a 3-year-old is more than $13,000 a year, said Halas. New York is the second most expensive state for child care, and Westchester is near the top of the most expensive counties for child care, she added.

NOTE: This article was corrected to reflect the total number of callers from New York City Department of Education and Montefiore Medical Center. The word “majority” was omitted in the third to last paragraph to clarify that calls come from a diverse range of businesses.