White Paper: Life/ Work Blance Childcare and Family

A major issue that is affecting many industries is the lack of affordable childcare options for working parents. Having worked in many different aspects of the automotive industry, most currently the retail automotive aspect I have seen this issue cause conflict in the lives of many of my coworkers and employees. While this may be more prevalent an issue in single parent families, due to the rising cost of living many two parent families are facing the fact that they must choose between making ends meet or working to pay for child care. An example of this is at my current place of employment where a colleague of mine was facing the choice of having his wife work so they had health benefits or having her not work so she could stay home and watch the kids, as they could not afford the cost of day care. I think that there are a number of issues contributing to this problem, all of them are not the fault of the employer, or could be solved by a government agency.

California (where I live and work) is one of the most expensive regions in the country to live. Currently families in California are paying an average of $375 per month out-of-pocket (that is an average of 10 percent of family earnings). Low-income families are affected even more dramatically with an average of 24 percent of their earnings being spent on childcare. Access to childcare programs varies by each family's ethnicity and socioeconomic status. For example, Latino children are much less likely than white children to attend center-based programs in the year prior to kindergarten. In terms of access based on socioeconomic status, 49 percent of low-income children are enrolled in center-based childcare versus more than 80 percent of upper-middle class children. (Children Now, 2005)

In the case of my coworker, he ended up having to drive his kids over two hours out of the way at a family member's home as he could not afford to lose his health coverage, or afford the almost $400 per month for day care for each of his two children. It was taking a toll on his professional and personal life. He would often be late to work, he would have a four-hour commute every day having to shuttle his kids to family and friends who could watch them while he and his wife worked. This is living only seven miles from work. This type of extra stress makes for employees that are less productive and dissatisfied with their work environment as they are torn between providing for the family, and being able to function. Some companies have taken notice of the affects on employees that are able to feel comfortable about their children security. "Alcott recognizes that its employees spend more time at work in a given week than they do at home. When employees cannot accomplish life's tasks because of their jobs, they become resentful and unmotivated" (Kitchen, 2008).

I contrast the current company I work for to another company that I had worked with in the past. They were a major retail outlet and had about the same number of employees as my current employer. They decided that the most effective way to attract and retain the best employees was by offering a childcare center on site. It served two proposes one it gave employees with young children a zero cost (to employee) place to have their kids taken care of, but it also would allow shoppers to drop their kids off while the shopped. The center was staffed by three people, and was outfitted with a mini movie theater, education center, and nap room. While the average employee was only making minimum wage the onsite childcare allowed them to keep more experienced employees, and created a true family environment. The cost of the center was minimal when compared to the cost associated with having higher turnover from employees leaving to seek new positions. Among parent employees in California, 31% report they have considered leaving their employers due to childcare issues. 85% percent of these employees report that a work-site center would affect their decision to stay, with more than 50% reporting it would have a significant impact. While 45% of parents miss, at least one day of work every six months and 65% of parents are late to work or are forced to leave work early due to childcare breakdowns. (City of Santa Barbara, 2002)

Major corporations like Intel have realized that the cost of having employees not performing at their peak is more costly than onsite childcare centers. "Childcare issues can cost millions of dollars each year in lost productivity and turnover when parents are disrupted at work because their childcare is unreliable or poor quality. Intel found through employee surveys that working parents are in need of childcare help, and traditional childcare solutions do not adequately address the needs of many employees. Intel has had a pretax childcare benefit and relationships with national childcare providers for some years, but is taking greater steps to provide more support for parents and guardian. To best address the unique childcare needs of our employees, Intel takes a site-based approach to childcare. For example, in Israel, Intel has partnered with the community to support childcare centers located near Intel facilities providing services that match the needs of our employees. In Ireland, Intel has implemented an on-site resource and referral service to help employees locate childcare. In Malaysia, Intel offers an on-site preschool (Intel , 2008)."

Many of these types of programs are considered perks by many, and are provided by what many would consider white-collar companies. However, some have put forth the idea that in today's much more demanding world where people are working more hours than ever, it should be a basic benefit provided by most employers. Many European countries such as Sweden have very liberal policies supporting family and childcare. In Sweden, childcare is considered a necessity for the economic and social survival of the country, with a national regulatory agency overseeing the neighborhood childcare centers. The government even pays parents up to 80 per cent of their yearly salary for up to a year after the birth of the child, so that the parent may take the time off to bond with their child. The Swedish government has even made vacation pay mandatory "based on the concept that family recreation is very important" (Polk, 1997). It is not just Sweden, many other nations that have started to look at the affect a good work/life balance has on its citizens. Countries including, France, Holland, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and even Cuba have all received high marks for their level of childcare services from the International Child Resource Instituted (Polk, 1997).

But while many may believe that Universal Childcare should be offered by the United States (U.S.) government, for every successful program around the world, there are stunning failures. Canada's program has been described as "woefully inadequate" and "an insult to working class mothers" according to a spokes person for a Vancouver based grassroots women's movement. This was in response to the Canadian government's budget announcement that would in effect would offer $100 a month for stay at home moms and women with children in a recognized childcare facility (Rosen, 2006). The state of Hawaii recently was forced to end its Universal Child Health Care system after only seven months. The program was started with the same ideal of providing a service to low income and immigrant families, however, once the program became available, families started to drop private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan. While health care and childcare are slightly different, the same mentality would cause the same strain on a childcare system. While advocates for the program believe it should be spared at all costs, the cost is the very issue that caused the program to shut down, and until the state government can find a way out of its $900 million budget shortfall all social programs will be put on hold ( Associated Press, 2008).

Currently the U.S. department of labor does not require a company to provide for childcare, however in 1990 after considering over 100 bills with child-care components, the 101st Congress enacted laws intended to make child care more affordable. The focus of this legislation was targeted at low-income or single parent families. However, this only provides temporary childcare assistance during periods of unemployment. Once the subject is employed, this benefit is no longer offered and the strain and stress of balancing childcare and work is once again an onus placed upon the shoulders of our struggling citizens. (Cattan, 1991)

There must be a solution that does not burden the taxpaying citizens, does not unfairly burden employers, and has built in protections to prevent abuse, all while not creating a monstrous bureaucracy. It is a tall order to attempt to please all sides, the parent, the taxpayers, the business owners, and the politicians. However, I believe with the amount of taxes being collected people would like to see their taxes going to better lives of U.S. citizens, instead of being poured into rebuilding foreign governments. In the U.S. we are working more hours per-year than ever before, in a sampling from my local region of California the average worker working more than 55 hours per-week rose by over 87% in less than two years. There was not a significant increase in the population sample to justify such a spike (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). At my store the average sales person works over 2, 400 hours per-year, and some work even more. With statistics like this, it is amazing that the people are not clamoring for a solution from our legislators.

There have been many solutions from creating a government agency and requiring pre-school to increasing tax refunds for parents. "One solution could be as simple as simplifying the process of getting already available benefits such as food stamps, low cost childcare, health care, and transportation so that the pore are both aware of and able to get the help they need" (Lauer, 2008).

The solution I would propose would involve a tax benefit from the federal government for corporations that offer childcare options for employees. Requiring companies to meet specific standards such as the number of employees to qualify and hiring licensed childcare providers for either on or off site childcare. This would allow for a rapid growth, as both the employer and employee would have an instant benefit. However, for companies not able to put in place their own childcare system that would meet national standard; a system could be put in place to create a privet or government company that would offer childcare in the same way health insurance is offered. It would need some form of government subsidization with an employee and employer matching contribution. The main issue would be to make sure it was actionable and had some form of local control, as the needs of urban area workers would vary vastly from the needs of more rural workers. Centers would need to be put into the areas that are most accessible to the communities that need them. The quickest and most effective way to bring this form of childcare into reality would be to attach it to an existing agency that could administer it, perhaps the Department of Labor. A four-year review of JPMorgan Chase's back-up care program showed that 98% of parents who use the program would have taken unscheduled time off from work to care for their children had the back-up program not been available. In just one year, the back-up program generated more than a 100% return on investment (City of Santa Barbara, 2002). Adding a government tax benefit to companies would prompt more companies to perhaps follow the example of that offering childcare solutions to employees will in the long run save money, and increase productive.

Works Cited

Associated Press. (2008, October 17). FoxNews.com. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from FoxNews.com: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0, 2933, 439607, 00.html

Cattan, P. (1991, October). Child-care problems: an obstacle to work. Monthly Labor Review Vol. 114, No. 10 .

Children Now. (2005). Child Care in California. Oakland: Children Now.

City of Santa Barbara. (2002). Child Care Impact on the Work Place. Santa Barbara: City of Santa Barbara.

Intel . (2008, November 13). Intel Work Life. Retrieved November 22, 2008, from Intel.com: http://www.intel.com/jobs/workplace/worklife/childcare.htm

Kitchen, P. (2008, November 10). Workplace Flexibility . McClatchy -Tribune Business News .

Lauer, R. &. (2008). Social problems and the quality of life 11th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Polk, D. (1997). Check out the (International) Neighbors. Children's Advocate , 4-6.

Rosen, R. (2006). "Universal" Child Care Benefit is an Insult to Millions of Women in Canada. Grassroots Women Newsletter .

U.S. Census Bureau. (2001). Hours Worked per Week by Residence, Riverside CA. Washington D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau.

Michael Satterfield has worked in the automotive industry for over 10 years, the majority of that time focused on Internet Sales and Marketing, in 2007 Michael founded Satterfield Group Int. a consulting firm dedicated to helping small businesses in the automotive aftermarket affordably promote their company on the internet. Michael holds BA Organizational Leadership and holds certificates from Ford Motor Company, Kia Motors North America, and Nichols, Campbell & Morrow in Internet Sales and Marketing. Michael is also an avid automotive enthusiast and has traveled around the world mostly by car, having owned over 60 cars, motorcycles, and scooters, Michael understands the needs of the automotive market from classic restoration to retail automotive sales. E-mail Michael directly at michael@satterfieldgroup.com

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