Businesses and companies are paying more attention to their workers’ child care needs – and bringing welcome energy to efforts to build a child care system that is stronger than ever.

As we’ve blogged, a new organization, the Massachusetts Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education, is advocating across the state.

And last month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a webinar, “The Business Case for Employer Assisted Childcare,” that explored actions businesses can take to support working parents.

The webinar features insights from business and community leaders that can and should be shared with local, statewide, and national businesses.

Julia Barfield, formerly with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation spoke first, explaining that companies are paying some of the “hidden costs” of poor access to child care.

One example: When a worker quits because they can’t find child care, companies spend 20 percent of that worker’s total compensation to find a replacement.

Another example: because of the pandemic, 20 percent of working parents say they are unsure about whether they will return to their pre-Covid work situations. And 11 percent of parents have turned down a new job because of child care worries.

“What we’re trying to help employers understand is, because you’re already paying for child care, you might want to look at all the hidden costs that are happening in your business and consider what you might be able to recoup if you were able to make strategic investments in child care supports for your working parents rather than having these hidden costs impacting you,” Barfield says in the webinar. She was the senior manager of Policy & Programs at the foundation’s Center for Education and Workforce.

Barfield calls on businesses to establish teams to coordinate business’ operational needs with times when early education and care programs are open. Businesses can also look to see if working parents are using sick days to cover child care gaps, which creates another hidden cost.

“Quick wins” and “community investments” that companies can achieve include: having flexible work schedules and acting as public advocates for easily accessible, high-quality child care.

If, in an ideal world, parents had easy access to child care, Barfield says, businesses would benefit in a number of ways, such as:

• greater worker productivity

• reduced worker turnover, and

• increased community standing and brand impact

Other webinar speakers include:

• Bill Grant, Consultant; Former Owner/CEO, Hildebrandt Learning Centers

• Alexandra Gotts, Principal, HR, Vanguard

• Melanie Bronfin, Policy Advisor, Louisiana Policy Institute for Children

• Robert Maida, Tax Managing Director, KPMG

• Claudia F. Curry, Project Manager, CCAMPIS; Director, Women’s Outreach and Advocacy Center, Community College of Philadelphia

• Marnie Aylesworth, Executive Director, The Pennsylvania Key, and

• Julia H. Klein, Chairwoman and CEO, C.H. Briggs Company, Inc.

Since the pandemic started, it has been encouraging to see the business community advocate for working parents and call for public investments in early education and care.

Please help amplify these important business voices. Check out the webinar and some of the related slides — and be sure to share these ideas with the companies and businesses that you know.

The benefits of this work can have, as one webinar participant explains, sweeping benefits:

“We enjoy [having] five generations in the workforce at Vanguard,” Alexandra Gotts says. “That’s something we’re very proud of. It helps us with client outcomes. It helps us be better as an organization in making decisions. It helps us as an organization in having ideas about how to serve our clients in the best way possible.”