\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1331486126-e1711661600396.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s one type of cost that, if treated right, can bring corporations a fourfold return, according to a new Boston Consulting Group<\/a> report. That investment? Helping employees with child care.<\/p>\n \u201cPassing up this kind of investment goes into corporate negligence territory,\u201d Reshma Saujani, CEO of Moms First, tells Fortune<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But only 11% of large employers offer this help in some form, whether a stipend, backup care services or a full-fledged child care center, according to benefits consultancy Mercer<\/a>. In the U.S., it\u2019s a fairly niche benefit that is not seen as an investment, and is often first on the chopping block when companies are in belt-tightening mode. <\/p>\n But it turns out that offering child care can yield substantial benefits for the workforce and employers. A report conducted by Boston Consulting Group at the behest of Moms First undertakes an early analysis of the return on investment of offering child care. They found that, for every dollar spent on the benefit, companies get back between $1.90 and $5.25 in the form of higher worker productivity, fewer missed days, and increased retention.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the easiest talent investment decision you\u2019ll ever make,\u201d the report<\/a> reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n BCG surveyed hundreds of employees and dozens of working parents across a number of benefits programs; it also presented five case studies of companies that introduced child care benefits and documented their effects on workers. Those include Fast Retailing (parent company of Uniqlo, Theory, and Helmut Lang), which offers employees a $1,000 monthly stipend for child care; UPS, which piloted an emergency child care facility at one warehouse location; and Steamboat Ski Resort in Colorado, which two years ago opened an onsite child-care center<\/a> for its employees and local residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n From these incentives, companies benefit from lower turnover.At UPS, for example, retention of hourly warehouse workers shot up to 96% from 69%. They also boast better attendance, as, with child care options, workers avoided between 11 and 16 absences a year, per BCG\u2019s case studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s more than many Americans get in vacation a year,\u201d said Kos. \u201cFor an hourly worker, that\u2019s a meaningful amount of pay for their family they\u2019re able to still receive.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bit of a flip to consider child care as an investment as companies typically treat it as a cost. Kos told Fortune <\/em>that even parent-friendly employers could not tell BCG how much they were benefiting from child care programs. \u201cCompanies could tell us how much the benefits cost to administer, but they didn\u2019t have really robust ways of measuring return,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Because of the high costs of replacing good workers and the benefits of productivity, a company could make a child care benefit pay for itself by retaining just 1% of workers who would otherwise have left, according to BCG.\u00a0<\/p>\n To be sure, more independent research needs to be done\u2014and it\u2019s unlikely businesses will be able to fill the gap alone, meaning the government will likely need to step in\u2014by subsidizing care for poor families, as New Mexico<\/a> has done recently, giving incentives to private organizations, or even raising taxes<\/a> and providing care directly . But it\u2019s telling that, since the pandemic, the care crisis has drawn increased attention, with traditionally pro-business institutions like the Chamber of Commerce<\/a> endorsing a fix.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Saujani hopes that re-framing this social need as an investment will inspire more employers to step up and fill the gap.<\/p>\n \u201cCulturally, we\u2019ve always put child care in the space of a personal problem that families have to solve,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s still seen as a social issue, not an economic issue.\u201d But in its importance to workers\u2013and potential as a recruitment tool for employers\u2014it\u2019s on par with health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t work for a company that doesn\u2019t support your health care costs,\u201d she said. It should be the same with family support, she added: \u201cLots of people pay more for their child care than they do for their mortgage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the CEO Daily newsletter to get the CEO perspective on the biggest headlines in business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n