Any time there's a snow day here, working parents stress out about having to find last-minute child care.
A new study released today found that workers with employer-sponsored dependent benefits -- such as worksite child care, elder care and back-up care -- report less stress and better health than those without such options.
Bright Horizons Family Solutions conducted the survey of 4,000 working adults: one group with access to employer-sponsored dependent care benefits and a second group without them. (Disclosure: Bright Horizons offers these benefits for employers and also operates child care centers.)
Among the survey's findings, workers with employer-sponsored dependent care benefits:
- Were 31 percent less likely to report lost productivity due to stress.
- Reported 25 percent fewer personal health concerns due to stress.
In contrast, workers without such benefits were nearly a third more likely to report being down or depressed and spend 20 percent more time dealing with childcare issues at work, among other findings.
Such benefits seem like a rarity at a time when employers are laying off workers and cutting pay. Is there any employer in the Baltimore region that offers any sort of dependent care benefit?
UPDATE: Bright Horizons tells me Johns Hopkins University, Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, the U.S. Census Bureau based in Suitland and Marriott International in Bethesda are some of the Maryland employers who offer dependent care benefits.
