theSkimm and Moms First are challenging companies to share their child care benefits

Working parents have few social safety nets they can rely on in the U.S. — there isn't a federal parental leave policy or child care assistance. But are employers prepared to step up, or will they let workers fend for themselves?

Two companies are challenging employers to reveal their answer. 

theSkimm, a digital media company, and Moms First, an advocacy group for working moms, have partnered together on an online campaign, #ShowUsYourChildCare. Following theSkimm's #ShowUsYourLeave campaign where companies shared their parental leave policies, this initiative asks companies to share how they support their working parents, spotlighting those who feel confident enough in their family benefits to step forward. Since the launch in June, 68 companies have joined the movement, including Etsy, Chobani, WeightWatchers and Vivvi.

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"We need to address the fact that child care has become unaffordable and inaccessible, and we wanted to bring transparency around that," says Lisa Dallenbach, chief people officer of theSkimm. "And so we walked the walk and shared the benefits we offer, giving other businesses the opportunity to do the same." 

theSkimm revealed that beyond 18 weeks of paid parental leave, they offer flexible and phased return-to-work options after said leave, child care and tutoring assistance and a parent-specific employee resource group. And while these benefits are for all parents regardless of gender, Dallenbach notes they are especially necessary at their women-dominated company.

"Historically, the caregiving and household responsibilities have fallen on women, and child care has been looked at as a personal issue," she says. "Without better systems in place, it's forcing women to reduce their work hours or leave the workforce altogether. And fathers are most often not regarded with those same expectations."

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It comes as no shock that these expectations are costing women. According to the Urban Institute, caregiving will cost women nearly $300,000 in lost job earnings and retirement savings over their lifetimes. When the pandemic hit and schools and daycares closed, an estimated 3.5 million moms with school-aged kids either lost their jobs, took leaves of absence or left the workforce, according to the Census Bureau. 

That's why the co-founder of Vivvi, a child care and early learning benefits provider, knew it wasn't enough to offer flexible work hours, remote work options and parental leave. The company offers subsidized or free child care to every employee, including their teachers, in the hopes of providing a work culture where every employee has the ability to succeed. 

"There are a lot of ways for companies to tick the box of working parent support, but nothing truly matches the value of a child care benefit," says Charles Bonello, co-founder and CEO of Vivvi. "Parents need child care whether they're in an office, at home, traveling or wherever they're working. When parents don't have child care, they cannot work. Period."

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Like Bonello, Kim Seymour, chief human resources officer at Etsy, is proud to join the #ShowUsYourChildCare campaign in hopes that it will move other companies to add child care assistance to their benefits. Etsy offers 20 days' worth of free child care, elder care and tutoring, as well as unlimited sick time for caregivers to use for loved ones or themselves — in addition to 26 weeks of parental leave. Etsy has found the benefits to be well worth the investment. 

"We know that caregiving extends beyond the first few months of parenthood," says Seymour. "We've consistently found that these offerings are not only good for people, they are good for business: they've helped us recruit, develop and retain our world-class workforce."

Bonello and Dallenbach more than agree, pointing out that businesses lose money when they lose working moms. Bonello notes that it often costs companies two times an employee's salary to replace them, while a lack of child care just leads to lower productivity and higher rates of absenteeism. In fact, the U.S. economy stands to lose $3.1 trillion if women continue to leave the workforce, according to a 2023 study published by Katica Roy, CEO of Pipeline Equity, a tech company dedicated to eliminating bias in job recruitment and the workplace.

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Dallenbach advises employers not to wait for state or federal policies to force their hand, and begin reevaluating how they support families. Contrary to a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality, families can't thrive without holistic support from their workplace, underlines Dallenbach. 

 "The burden of fixing this problem can't just be on mothers or working parents," she says. "It's a business problem and an economic issue — and that's what we really want to highlight. While we wait for sufficient policy change that supports all American families, we're calling on other businesses to join us."