Childcare is critical to a thriving economy in New York City and beyond.  For far too long, lack of accessible and affordable childcare has been a systemic barrier to workforce participation and economic mobility for women, especially women of color, and low-income New York City families. We have a once in a generation opportunity to not only solve the childcare crisis, but to reimagine a future of care that is designed to meet the diverse needs of families.

Mayor Adams has released a Blueprint for Childcare & Early Childhood in New York City to provide affordable, equitable, high-quality childcare and education across the city.  As part of the Blueprint, we have produced, “Employers & Childcare: NYC Toolkit for Family-Friendly Companies,” to provide resources to New York City employers who want to be partners in expanding access to quality childcare.

NYCEDC Research: A crisis for working women and mothers

76% of parents worry about having a family in NYC, and almost half have considered moving to afford care.

In NYC, moms working fulltime experience a wage gap of 86 cents/dollar earned by non-mothers, while dads earn $1.03/dollar earned by non-fathers.

Over 90% of childcare workers are women, mostly women of color and immigrants; 25% live in poverty and 53% qualify for childcare subsidies.

In early 2021, 519,000 people in the New York Metro area were not seeking paid work due to caring for a child at home.

Source: "A Crisis for Working Women and Mothers: Making the Case for Childcare at the Core of Economic Recovery in NYC." New York City Economic Development Corporation

The Childcare Innovation Lab

Childcare is at once an urgent economic challenge and a $260B market that is ripe for innovation. At the Childcare Innovation Lab, we aim to make NYC the center of care economy innovation by:

  1. Researching childcare as an economic issue
  2. Catalyzing public and private sector solutions for key economic challenges facing childcare
  3. Supporting innovative approaches to the future of care for NYC and beyond

Benefits for Business

For employers, high-quality childcare is a smart investment. It supports the workforce of today, while laying foundations for the success of the future workforce. Companies offering childcare benefits see:

PRODUCTIVITY GAINS

Employee absences decrease by up to 30% and vacancies are filled faster and with better qualified applicants.

IMPROVED RETENTION

Employee turnover is reduced by as much as 60%, significant as the cost of losing an employee can range from $10,000 to 2x the employee’s salary.

ENHANCED REPUTATION

8 in 10 parents wish their employer offered childcare benefits and 83% of millennials* say they would leave their jobs for one with more family-friendly benefits.

INCREASED DIVERSITY

Companies see increased gender diversity and more women advancing to leadership positions.

*Millennials make up over a third of the workforce, and millennial women account for 80% of births.

Are you:

Interested in participating in future programming?
A business leader interested in building public/private partnerships?
Contact us at [email protected]