The Effects of Employer‐sponsored Child Care on Employee Absenteeism, Turnover, Productivity, Recruitment or Job Satisfaction: What Is Claimed and What Is Known

An evaluation is made of the evidence supporting claims that employer‐sponsored child care programs improve employee work behaviors and attitudes. Explanation of the logic behind expectations for success, description of testimony for employer‐sponsored child care and critiques of empirical studies are presented. Well planned evaluations with proper controls appear to be absent. Documentation was equivocal on whether women workers of child‐bearing age were absent from work more than men or quit more often than men. Even if greater absences among women was assumed, it was suggested that this could be due to factors other than child care ‐ such as lower attachment to work or need for wages in two‐income households, or poorly paid and low prestige jobs. Despite enthusiasm by some chief executive officers, public relations officials and child care advocates, assertions that employer‐sponsored child care reduces workers' absenteeism or tardiness, or that it increases workers' productivity or job satisfaction are not supported by credible research.