Child care surpasses retirement as top work perk

• Key Insight: Discover how employer-sponsored child care is becoming a core workforce strategy.
• What's at Stake: Talent retention, productivity, and operational continuity hinge on child care benefit provisioning.
• Forward Look: Expect increased employer investment in on-site or subsidized child care programs.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Child care has overtaken retirement benefits as the most important workplace perk for working parents, according to a new survey.

The findings from KinderCare's 2026 Confidence Index show that child care is key to productivity, retention and loyalty. Eighty-five percent of all working parents say dependent care benefits should be treated as essential — on par with health and retirement benefits.

"Employers have a real opportunity right now," Dan Figurski, president of KinderCare for Employers and Champions, said in an email. "When companies make child care easier to access and understand, parents can stay focused on their careers — and businesses see the payoff in productivity, loyalty, and long-term performance."

According to the survey, just one in three employers offer child care benefits, forcing many parents to make tough career decisions. Three-quarters of working parents say they know people who are leaving the workforce due to child care challenges, while more than a quarter say they have either considered quitting — or have quit — their job entirely.

Read more: From child care desert to on-campus school: An employer's solution for working parents

More than 25% of working parents say they have no backup or emergency child care option if their primary care falls through. The impact on their careers is significant: Parents report missing work (50%), reducing work hours (35%) and experiencing tension with managers (28%) and co-workers (24%) due to a lack of reliable child care. 

"When it comes to employer-sponsored care, many workplace leaders are unaware of the economic impact supporting working parents with child care can have on their bottom line," Figurski said. 

A huge expense

Child care is one of the largest expenses for working families in the U.S., rivaling housing, food and transportation. According to a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Labor, families spend between 8.9% and 16% of their median income on full-day care for just one child. In 2022 — the most recent year for which data are available — annual prices ranged from $6,552 to $15,600. 

Read more: Fortune 500 HR leaders say child care is key to talent retention

A 2025 LendingTree study found that families spend an average of 22.6% of their income on the basic annual expenses to raise a child, up from 19% in 2023. The percentage was highest in Hawaii (25.4%) and lowest in the District of Columbia (14%).

"No one should be surprised that costs have risen in recent years, but the type of growth we've seen in child care costs is on a whole other level," Matt Schulz, LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst, said in a press release. "There are plenty of reasons for the growth, including inflation, growing labor costs and rising demand. However, whatever the reason, this growth is making an already challenging aspect of parenthood that much worse."

Read more: 'Anyone can offer a child care benefit': Why KinderCare wants child care for all

KinderCare has seen an increased demand in recent years for employer-sponsored child care, Figurski said, adding that the company has partnered with more than 700 employers nationwide to offer benefit programs including 70 on-site employer-sponsored centers. 

Flexibility is key

Supporting working parents can go a long way toward building loyalty, KinderCare's survey revealed. Seventy-nine percent of parents say they would be more loyal to their company if their employer supported them better as a parent.

Read more: KinderCare breaks it down: What working parents want from their child care benefits

Eighty-one percent of parents say they wish their employer understood that reliable child care is key to their productivity, and two-thirds admit that unreliable care has negatively impacted their work performance.

"As the landscape continues to evolve with return to office mandates and new workplace expectations, employers need to remain flexible about the benefits they're offering and recognize the positive impacts it can have on their business," Figurski said. "Our hope is that employers will seek our partnership to offer child care benefits to their employees and have a hand in becoming an active solution to the child care crisis."