“The big picture: Child care is denting the workforce, preventing a huge swath of Americans from contributing to their firms and to the economy at large. To chip away at the problem, and protect their bottom lines, employers are bulking up child care benefits for workers.

“By the numbers:

• Working parents — who make up about a third of the U.S. workforce — are losing an average of eight hours per week due to child care responsibilities during the pandemic, per Northeastern University research.

• Even before the pandemic, inadequate child care was costing working parents $37 billion a year in lost income and employers $13 billion a year in lost productivity, according to Care.com’s data.

“What’s happening: Companies across states and industries are bolstering existing benefits and adding new, creative ones to help their employees with kids.

• New services: Citigroup is offering discounted test prep and tutoring to employees with school-age kids, reports Fortune.

• Making connections: Home Depot and Dell have established support groups for working parents to swap tips or just vent.

• Good, old cash: Many working parents are saying the best benefit is simply money, which gives them the flexibility to seek out the specific type of child care that makes sense for them. Bank of America and Deloitte, among other firms, are offering up to $100 a day in child care reimbursements during the pandemic.”

— “The business case for child care,” by Erica Pandey, Axios, November 10, 2020