Daycare - The Story Never Changes

Posted by on July 05, 2008 |

Regularly throughout my career a story re-emerges on the so-called "trend" of women with children leaving the workplace to raise their children full time.  But when the numbers are examined closely, the story turns out to be false.  Women with children continue to work, and that means they have to find childcare.

I was reminded of this when I read today's NYT's front page story on Google's struggle to provide its employees with on-site daycare.  It's expensive (the company provides a $37,000 annual subsidy per child!), and it's about to get more expensive for employees.  There is a long waiting list, nonetheless, and employees are charged to stay on it. 

The piece, written by Joe Nocera, was breathlessly critical of Google, but the question finally asked was a good one that can be asked of companies and society in general.  Nocera wrote, "Google may be providing the greatest day care ever, but so what?  It doesn't matter how good the day care is if only its wealthiest employees can afford it.  If Google had really wanted to do something path-breaking about its day care crisis, it would...spend more time figuring out how to 'scale' day care for everybody no…

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