Businesses
The link between businesses and young children may seem unclear. But it shouldn’t be! Focusing on children’s needs yields both short-and long-term benefits for individual businesses and for society as a whole.
A business that focuses on young children by ensuring that its parent employees can fill both roles will see immediate benefits. Parents who are able to come to work knowing their children are happy, healthy and well cared for are able to focus on work and be more productive. In fact, for every dollar invested in back-up child care, employers can expect a return of $3-$4 in increased employee productivity and retention [1]. Yet in 2009, 24% of Wyoming women surveyed reported having problems with child care, especially due to cost and availability[2]. When a business works with its employees to ensure satisfactory child care arrangements, both parties will benefit. Businesses also benefit from greater employee loyalty when they are able to accommodate extenuating family circumstances.
Read about Wyoming businesses that have chosen to support their employees by being family friendly.
- Read about Powell Valley Health Care‘s family friendly practices here and here.
- Read about Carbon County Higher Education Center‘s family friendly practices here.
There are also numerous long-term benefits when businesses invest in early childhood.
The first step in ensuring a productive workforce for the future is ensuring that today’s kids thrive. Children who participate in quality early childhood programs are more likely to graduate from high school and college, and therefore more likely to have the skills to contribute to a competitive workforce[3]. Today, the cost of not graduating from high school is high. Non-graduates are not competitive for jobs, and make thousands of dollars less per year than their peers who did graduate. Wyoming’s graduating class of 2009 was almost 2000 students short—and the lost lifetime earnings for this class of dropouts alone totals almost $519 million[4].
Learn more about how early childhood development will affect our workforce:
Partnership for America’s Economic Success
US Chamber of Commerce Institute for a Competitive Workforce
Businesses: Ask us how you can get involved.
[1] Partnership for America’s Economic Success. (2009). Investing in America’s Children: The Business Case. Accessed Nov. 2, 2010 from <http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/PAES/PAES_Case_Statement_Web.pdf>
[2] WYSAC. (2009). Wyoming Women’s Issues Survey, 2009, by B. Harnisch and B. Anatchkova (WYSAC Technical Report No. SRC-910A). Laramie: Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center, University of Wyoming. Accessed Nov. 2, 2010 from < http://www.wyomingwomenscouncil.org/_pop-up_content/WCWI09ExecSummary.pdf>.
[3] HighScope. “HighScope Perry Preschool Study Lifetime Effects.” Accessed Nov 2, 2010 from < http://www.highscope.org/content.asp?contentid=219>.
[4] Alliance for Excellent Education. (2009). Potential Economic Impacts of Improved Education on Wyoming. Accessed Nov, 2, 2010 from < http://www.all4ed.org/files/Wyoming_econ.pdf>.
