Support for Child Care Across the Spectrum

Child care got favorable and somewhat unexpected mentions on Tuesday from two conservative-leaning commentators—co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

During a segment about the best companies to work for, Scarborough brought up—without prompting—the benefits for employees when companies provide on-site child care. Scarborough talked about how reassuring it can be for parents to know that their children are well cared-for while they work, and close enough to visit anytime during the day. He is certainly correct about how valuable on-site child care can be. Unfortunately, it is not an option for most parents. Many parents work for employers that are too small to support an on-site center. Many parents also work multiple part-time jobs and would not find it practical to move their child from one place to another as they moved from job to job throughout the day. And, as Scarborough’s co-host Mika Brzezinski points out, on-site child care may not be convenient for parents with school-age children, since they would need to find a way to get their children from school in the middle of the day.

But if employers cannot offer child care on site or doing so would not meet their employees’ needs, they can support child care in other ways.  For example, employers can provide financial assistance to help parents pay for child care or can offer dependent care accounts, which allow parents to set aside a portion of pre-tax earnings to cover child care expenses. They can also give parents paid time off for when their children are sick and offer flexibility for parents who may occasionally need to arrive late, take time off, or work from home when child care arrangements fall through.

Meanwhile, in his latest column, Brooks highlights the important role child care plays in enabling parents to go to school or work, helping children get an early start toward a successful future, and building strong communities. The column does not address specific strategies for expanding access to high-quality care, but achieving that goal would involve increased investments in helping parents pay for child care and in improving the quality of care.

Brooks’ and Scarborough’s recognition of the importance of child care is most welcome. Hopefully, it is only the start of a discussion about strategies for making sure that all parents have affordable, convenient, reliable, nurturing child care for their children.