Workplace Childcare

Ida Khairina Kamaruddin

PS 340

Boston University

Introduction

The Effects of Workplace Childcare on Employee

The Reasons Organizations Dont Support Workplace Childcare

Introduction

Definition

Workplace Childcare: Refers to a childcare center at or near the work site that receives support from an

employer or a group of employers. (Spinks, 2000)

Facts and Figures

55% of mothers with infant children and 78.2% of mothers without infants were part of the labor force

62% of married couples with children are dual career

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012)

Did You Know?

A 1997 study found that employed mothers with children under 6 miss an average of 8.5 days a year and fathers miss average of 5 days because of family-related issues. (Shore, 1998)

Other workplace actors that initiate on-site childcares (International Labour Office, 2010, p. 22): Trade unions Organizations specialized in childcare Employers organizations, local authorities, etc.

The Effects of Workplace Childcare on Employee

Job Satisfaction

The availability of the childcare resources (i.e. on-site childcare) is directly associated with greater levels of job satisfaction among Federal employees. (Saltzstein, Ting & Saltzstein, 2001) Responses from 55,000 Federal Government Employees

On-site childcare enhances employees job satisfaction because they have greater work-family balance. (Ezra & Deckman, 1996)

Absenteeism

Milkovich and Gomez (1976) found that having employer-sponsored childcare available reduced employee absenteeism.

Nylon Craft, Inc. in South Bend, Indiana had a 22% absenteeism rate before its child care center, but after the absentee rate was virtually zero, saving the company $1.5 million. (Hiat,1982)

Having corporate on-site child care center, the Union Bank in Pasadena, California, saved between $138,000 and $232,000 annually in operations, attributed mostly to reduced turnover and absenteeism. (Ransom & Burud, 1989)

Turnover

One of the major reasons why employers provide childcare help is to retain their employees. Losing employees can be expensive considering the costs of replacing an employee in terms of recruitment, advertising, selection and training.

P.C.A International, Inc., of Charlotte, North Carolina saved $30,000 in reduced employee turnover because of its center. (LeRoux,1980).

The daycare program helps the company hold on to high-potential female employees, especially its difficult to find female engineers, said Martin Healiss, human resources strategic partner with the Retail Solutions Division of NCR. Many of these women have said that they are staying with the company primarily because of its childcare center, he added. (International Labour Office, 2010, p. 70)

Case Study AlliedSignal, Inc

Advanced technology and manufacturing firm

70,500 employees

1995 Honor Roll Program On-site childcare (Morristown HQ)

Results from a survey Decreased by 89% in lost work time More focus and more productive Highest satisfaction rating 4.8/5.0 Improved company morale Attract new employees

US Department of Labor (2009)

But

On-site childcare can lead to detrimental effects on employees if they: perceived their organization to be unsupportive toward their family life were dissatisfied with their childcare provider

Users of the on-site childcare facility were more sensitive to the organizations family climate and the organizations quality of childcare services provided

Work disengagement and job dissatisfaction have been linked to larger negative outcomes like absenteeism, turnover, low job performance, and loss of productivity

Ratnasingam et al. (2012)

Ratnasingam et al. (2012)

On-site External

t = 1.98 p = .04

t = -1.07 p = .28

On-site External

t = 2.10 p = .02

t = -1.15 p = .09

Male vs Female

On-site facilities had a significant effect for mother, but not father. Mothers are expected to bear the majority of responsibility for child care arrangements, and it will be mothers who will be most helped by on-site child care. (Ezra & Deckman, 1996, p. 176)

The health industry is experiencing serious shortages of medical technologists, technicians, and nurses who comprise a primarily female labor market due to the unavailability of on-site childcare. (Knapp, 1990; Meyers,1990)

The existence of a highly significant relationship for mothers and no relationship for fathers signals that mothers are bearing the primary responsibility for the care of young children and that responsibility has a negative impact on their ability to balance the work and family aspects of their life. (Ezra & Deckman, 1996, p. 177)

Family responsibilities including the concern of childcare is the major factor that leads to high job turnover among women compared to men (Miller, 1984).

In regard to work and family balance, fathers were more satisfied than were mothers possibly because mothers were saddled with the primary responsibility for family duties including the child care distress (Hochschild,1989)

Reasons Organizations Dont Support Workplace Childcare

Challenges for Organizations

Employers have to provide a significant level of capital investment on building and maintaining the on-site childcare centers (Canfield, 1996).

Procter & Gamble invested $2.5 million on its workplace childcare in Greater Cincinnati (Higgin, 2001)

Having a child so close can be distracting to parents, especially when they can simply run down stairs to check up on them. In a Forbes article called, "Corporate Babysitting" (1970) it was reported that, "One

men's clothing manufacturer complains that absenteeism has actually gone up since day care opened for several of his plants. (as cited in Miller, 1984, p. 283)

On-site Facilities Crisis in Urban India

"...to discuss quality on-site childcare... This isn't just about family balance. This is about

making workplaces stronger and more effective and keeping and attracting the

most qualified people.''

(Michelle Obama, 2009)

References

Canfield, S. (May 13, 1996). On-Site Child Care Is No Small Matter. The Seattle Times.

Ezra, M. & Deckman, M. (1996). Balancing work and family responsibilities: Flextime and Child Care in the Federal Government. Public Administration Review, 56(2), 174-179.

U. S. Department of Labor. (2009). Meeting the needs of todays workforce: Child care best practice. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/key_workplace/607/

Higgins, A. (May 13, 2001) . On-site day care keeps working moms happy, but few firms offer it. The Cincinnati Enquirer

Horn, J. E. & Beterlein, J. G. (2001). Employer options for child care: Effective strategies for recruitment and retention. The Pennsylvania State University, PA.

International Labour Office (2010). Workplace Solution for Childcare. Geneva, Switzerland.

Kossek, E. E. & Nichol, V. (1992). The effects of on-site child care on employee attitudes and performance. Personnel Psychology, 45, 485-509.

Milkovich, G. T. and Gomez, L. R. (1976). Day care and selected employee work behaviors. Academy of Management Journal, 19, 111-15.

Miller, T. J. (1984). The effects of employer-Sponsored child care on employee absenteeism, turnover, productivity, recruitment or job satisfaction: What is claimed and what is known. Personnel Psychology, 37, 277-289.

Paiz, J.M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., & Keck, R. (2013, September 14). Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications). Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Ratnasingam, P., Spitzmueller, C., King, W. R., Rubino, C., Luksyte, A, Matthews, R. A., & Fisher, G. G. (Oct 2012). Can on-site childcare have detrimental work outcomes? Examining the moderating roles of family supportive organization perceptions and childcare satisfaction. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 17(4), 435-444.

Saltzstein, A.L., Ting, Y., & Saltzstein G.H. (2001). Work-family balance and job satisfaction: The impact of family-friendly policies on attitudes of federal government employees. Public Administration Review, 61(4), 452-467.

Smith, S. L.; Fairchild, M., & Groginsky, S. (1997). Early Childhood Care and Education: An Investment That Works.

Spinks, N. (2000). Executive Briefing: Workplace childcare at-a-glance. Toronto: Work-Life Harmony Enterprises.