Child care could be coming to workplaces post-pandemic

Is built-in child care the next office trend? Here are 3 things to consider

February 15, 2022 5:30 AM

Work and kids don’t historically mix — but COVID-19 had other ideas. The pandemic created a caregiving crisis for working parents, and two years later, employees and their workforces are still struggling to find a balance. One possible solution: make every day bring-your-kid-to-work day.

It might sound like a crazy idea, but it’d solve a problem plaguing families and businesses alike. Around one in five unemployed adults said the reason they were not working was because COVID-19 disrupted their child care arrangements, according to the United States Census Bureau. And of those not working, women ages 25-44 are almost three times as likely as men to not be working due to child care demands.

For nearly two years, working parents have made sharing an at-home office space with their children work. As we prepare for the eventual return-to-office, shifting child care to the workplace holds a lot of promise, but comes with a bevy of challenges.

“Overwhelmingly parents don't want to go back to the office,” says Leslie Forde, CEO and founder at Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs. “But essential workers are in roles that can't be done at home — doctors or researchers or teachers — or [sometimes] employees are in positions where they really have to be in the office. In those scenarios what's made people the happiest is when their employer has made it really easy for them to bring their kids to work.”

So is in-office child care in your company’s future? Here are the challenges and considerations.

Is it a logistical nightmare?

Having children on the premises is a benefit to parents, but can pose a liability to employers in terms of health and safety. Michelle Chan, founder of Workplayce — a child-friendly co-working space in Manhattan — knows this well.

“An architect has to do a capacity calculation for the fire department,” she says. “We have to follow all their rules under the articles of the department of health regulations which [includes] having a certain number of bathrooms per child and a separate bathroom for staff. And if you have an outdoor area, there also has to be a 10 foot fence.”

Is it possible to make our office kid-friendly?

Even if an office space doesn’t have a built-in child care facility, it will be up to employers to create considerate spaces where employees don’t feel any judgement or stigma should they have to or even just want to bring their children in.

“Offices will need to consider having a layout and perhaps even activities and tools — like paper and pencils — for younger children or a television or an iPad,” Forde says. “Maybe you need to have a couple of conference rooms that are not bookable all the time, where if you wanted to be able to bring a child or children you could.”

Can we get help?

Proactive companies can also look outside their four walls for the solution to the child care crisis. The goal is to grant working parents flexibility, according to Forde, no matter where it’s coming from.

“If organizations — especially if they're emerging from this period — are planning for expansion or planning new office space, maybe they plan to rent the place that's near a playground or a park or maybe they partner with a child care facility so that they might be able to co-locate with a child care facility,” she says.