Study Confirms the Business Case for Employer-Sponsored Child Care

RUSHDEN, England -

- Employees with Benefit Miss 70% Fewer Work Days Due to Child Care Issues

A comprehensive study released today by The Consulting Practice at Bright Horizons Family Solutions confirms the importance of employer-supported child care for working families in the UK and Ireland. Among several compelling findings, the study reports that over a quarter of survey respondents said that they could not work without their workplace nursery and that employees with a child care benefit miss 70% fewer work days due to child care issues

The Practice undertook a survey to measure the impact of employer-sponsored child care on employees and heard from parents who use a nursery supported by their employer at 33 organisations in the public and private sectors throughout the UK and Ireland. The survey results provide clear evidence that high-quality, reliable work-site child care is an important benefit employees depend on to be productive and present at work.

The key findings demonstrating child care’s positive impact on recruitment, retention, absenteeism and productivity include:

- 96% indicate that the presence of a nursery at their place of work was important in their decision to join their company (40% say it was very important) - More than 1 in 5 respondents have either turned down or declined to pursue a new job option due to a lack of workplace child care with the other employer - There was a 70% reduction in the number of work days missed due to child care issues for those employees with access to a workplace nursery - Workplace nursery users were 78% less likely to consider leaving their jobs due to child care difficulties than the control group*

With the number of working parents in the UK at a 15-year high, the report is a timely reminder of the key importance of child care support to help employees balance work and family responsibilities. In return for child care benefits, employees are rewarding their employers with their loyalty and commitment: “My workplace nursery is excellent and is one of the main reasons that I stay with my employer.” “The opening hours are great for me and allow me to give 100% to my job while my children are cared for.”

To download the full report, visit www.brighthorizons.co.uk.

* Survey results were compared with those of a control group of employees from a more general population of working parents in the UK and Ireland (nearly 2,500 respondents surveyed by the Practice over the last 8 years).

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions specialises in managing high-quality nurseries that meet the needs of working families and provides work/life consulting services to employers throughout the UK, Ireland and the US. Bright Horizons has been operating in the UK and Ireland since 2000 and is now the largest nursery provider in the UK. Bright Horizons has been named by the Financial Times and Great Place to Work Institute as one of the top 50 Best Workplaces for the past four years and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Ireland as well. The organisation was founded in the US in 1986 and is the world’s leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, serving more than 700 clients worldwide, including more than 95 of the FORTUNE 500. www.brighthorizons.co.uk

Source: Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC

Bridget Perry of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, +01933-415993, bridget.perry at brighthorizons.com