Child Care:

Employer Assistance for Private Sector and Federal Employees

GGD-86-38: Published: Feb 11, 1986. Publicly Released: Feb 21, 1986.

Additional Materials:

Contact:

Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov

In response to congressional requests, GAO examined the on-site, consortium, vendor, and voucher care options under which the government might provide federal employees with dependent care assistance. GAO: (1) summarized costs and benefits reported by private sector employers; (2) compared and contrasted the advantages and disadvantages of the four options; (3) described the federal government's current involvement; and (4) estimated the cost of such assistance for federal employees under various assumptions, including the level of subsidy, annual per-child costs, and number of children sponsored.

GAO found that consultants to private companies stress that: (1) no option is superior in all situations; and (2) in choosing among the various available options, many issues must be considered, including a particular employer's location, business characteristics, labor force composition and needs, and workplace goals. For employer-sponsored day care centers, the literature on annual operating costs showed a range of $1,579 to $4,901 per child. Surveys of employers revealed that most employers with child care assistance programs believe that they are beneficial for: recruitment; improved morale; reduced tardiness; reduced absenteeism and turnover; community image; tax avoidance; and work force productivity. GAO found that start-up costs ranged from $7,373 to open one center for 126 children to $478,100 to open another facility for 100 children. GAO estimated the average value of agency operating support at $1,300 a year per child. The most important obstacle to child care initiatives is the lack of available funding to meet the high estimated costs. Because a voucher or vendor program would reach larger numbers of employees and their children, its total costs would be higher. The lowest estimate, based on a 10-percent subsidy level, a $2,500 annual per-child cost, and restrictive eligibility criteria that would exclude 525,000 of the estimated 700,000 preschool children, would amount to $43.8 million in overall costs to the government each year.

Feb 25, 2021

Feb 18, 2021

Jan 8, 2021

Dec 18, 2020

Dec 1, 2020

Nov 18, 2020

Oct 1, 2020

Aug 21, 2020

Aug 13, 2020

Looking for more? Browse all our products here