Starting With Care
Just one month ago, I started an exhilarating journey as Care.com’s CEO. As the father of three and a son to aging parents, Care’s mission felt deeply personal to me; I know what care has meant and continues to mean to my family. But the last few weeks have reinforced for me just how profoundly care impacts every family at every stage of life and our mission now feels far more than personal. It’s universal.
Each time I mention my new role to friends and family, I hear a variation of the same refrain: every household needs some form of care and it’s most definitely not one-size-fits-all. But one thing is undeniable: We have to do better for our children, our seniors, for all families. Failure is simply not an option and success will not only enable individual families to thrive but will also fuel our nation’s economic growth.
The Challenges
Depending upon your perspective – parent, adult child, business leader, policymaker, one or more of this list – you likely know a lot about a little bit of the care challenges the US currently faces. It’s a complex and multi-faceted framework:
The Rising Cost of Childcare (Affordability)
A majority of families devote 27% of their household income to childcare, nearly 4X what’s deemed affordable by the Department of Health and Human Services (7%) according to Care.com’s 2023 Cost of Care Report. This cost frequently matches or exceeds housing costs or college tuition, prohibits savings, and limits consumer spending.
Access to Quality Care (Quality and Availability)
The pandemic dealt a devastating blow to an already crumbling childcare system. Childcare deserts now proliferate, significantly reducing the options available to parents. And where care is accessible, it’s not available so families face long waitlists and additional costs. Furthermore, 9-5 is no longer the standard workday. Child Care Aware estimates that there are “roughly 31 million children who may need childcare during non-standard hours, yet just 34 percent of listed family childcare, and 8 percent of center-based care, offer it”. Without care options, parents – frequently mothers – are forced to leave the workforce. When you consider that the bulk of our nation’s GDP growth over the last 50+ years has been derived from female workforce participation, you see what a lack of care costs us all.
The Caregiver Workforce (Consistency)
On average, childcare workers hourly rates (in-home and in-center) are less than their Pre-K and kindergarten counterparts, $13.43 per hour vs. $16.83 and $41.86 per hour, respectively. Lower pay and lack of benefits are key drivers of caregiver turnover, threatening the workforce pipeline the country desperately needs to support both our children and our seniors. The devaluing of in-home caregivers is also reflected in terminology: Center-based workers are classified as “formal” care while in-home caregivers are considered “informal” care.
Limited Employer Support
It’s a simple truth that without care parents can’t work, impacting enterprise productivity and growth. Care is proven to drive the bottom line yet not enough employers prioritize investing in care support for their employees.
Limited Government Support
The US is one of only two developed nations in the world without federally mandated parental leave and, compared to other countries in the O.E.C.D., we don’t invest nearly enough in early childhood care. During the pandemic, parents got a glimpse of what it would be like to have the government invest in care by expanding the existing tax credits but that was temporary and the credits are now back to their pre-pandemic levels, leaving parents with little assistance.
The Opportunities
America is facing a care crisis but there are real reasons to be optimistic about where we go from here. Some of our nation’s biggest and most complex crises have spawned action and innovation, and I believe the same will be true of reimagining our care infrastructure. Best-in-class employers are leading the way, charting a path that will make care benefits table stakes. Our annual Future of Benefits Report reveals that employers are realizing that investing in care not only meets the needs of their employees, it’s good business.
- Our report found that 46% are prioritizing childcare more than last year, with 80% reporting that childcare supports have a positive impact on productivity and 78% seeing a correlation with talent retention.
- And senior care has become an important part of this equation. 43% of employers are prioritizing senior care benefits more in 2023, having seen a significant positive impact on productivity (84%) and talent retention (81%). In fact, if employers could only invest in one care benefit, they would choose senior care.
Care is a non-partisan issue and it’s finally being treated as such. We’ve seen notable strides recently, including:
- The formation of the Congressional Bipartisan Affordable Child Care Caucus to address the high cost of childcare in America and prove childcare is not a partisan issue and affects families nationwide.
- In April, President Biden signed an Executive Order that included a variety of initiatives for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor to better support the caregiving workforce, increase access to affordable care for families, and increase the supply of high-quality care. We’re watching with eager anticipation of what this could mean long-term for care in America. To build upon this EO, Vice President Harris has also announced a series of proposed measures to make care more affordable, including capping childcare copays at no more than 7% of a family’s income.
- The Department of Commerce further underscored the impact of childcare on the workforce by amending the CHIPs Act to require manufacturers requesting funding to submit a plan for providing affordable and reliable childcare to their employees.
One of the biggest sources of my optimism is the team here at Care. Mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters, we are deeply and truly committed to making care accessible to all and enabling caregivers to find meaningful, good-paying jobs. We’re taking on the challenges above through product innovation, thought leadership and research, enterprise solutions, and advocacy at the state and federal levels.
Transforming our nation’s care infrastructure won’t be easy and everyone – families, employers, and government – has a role to play. By expanding government subsidies, creating access to high-quality childcare options, and providing robust support for the workforce, we can lay the groundwork for a resilient and equitable care system that better fosters success for American families.
The team at Care is already in the thick of it and remains committed to helping families find care for all they love. I am deeply moved by their dedication and am excited to work alongside them to build the care solutions every family deserves.
