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

Published Updated 2 Min Read

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.

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.”

Paola Peralta
Associate Editor

Paola Peralta is an Associate Editor at Employee Benefit News and has been with the team for five years. She is a proud UCF journalism graduate who got her start through a Dow Jones News Fund … Read full bio


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