Employer-Supported Child Care as a Women-Responsive Policy

Abstract

The recent “mommy track” debate raises questions about how employers ought best to accommodate women's (and men's) dual commitments to work and family. The “mommy track” approach suggests instituting different career paths for women who expect to have children and those who do not. A less discriminatory approach is to implement family-supportive policies applicable to both women and men. This article examines one such policy — employer-supported child care—and discusses its nature and its implications for improving labor force opportunities for women. Primary data come from two sources: a survey of 99 randomly selected employers in three Eastern states and in-depth interviews with 25 employers across the country, 20 that already support a child-care benefit and five that considered it but decided not to. The article concludes that although employers support child care out of their own organizational self-interest, the implication of their support for women's occupational advancement is not insignificant.