Audrey Enz 1

Bettering Campus Work Culture: Childcare

Personal Background and Introduction

My husband and I have two beautiful young daughters under three who are not in school yet.

They are also not enrolled in a formal daycare due to the cost commitment and both of us having

willing families to help with childcare, but that’s not to say that we have not had our fair share of

childcare issues. Because we rely on family, we are at the mercy of their schedules and conflicts

in addition to any illness or injury that prevents them from safely watching our children. My

husband owns his own company and when he’s not working, he’s not making money so most of

the childcare falls to me to arrange. I often have to use vacation or sick time to work around my

childcare and lose out on opportunities to take actual vacations or feel that I have to work while

sick because of being out previously for my children. I propose more flexibility around childcare

for staff, students, and faculty and suggest on-site childcare that is partially subsidized by the

institution of higher education.

The Problem

Parenting is a full-time job and comes with its own set of rules and expectations that affect the

rest of your life’s activities so it’s not far off to say that work affects parenting decisions and vice

versa. In 2014 78% of people who had dependent children were employed in our workforce

(Dyble). This large number of parents need support in their work-parenting life in order to be the

best at both jobs. New parents are at a higher risk for depression and anxiety than their childfree

counterparts which can lead to decreased job satisfaction, job performance, attendance, and

overall mental and physical wellbeing of the parent and their child/children (Perry-Jenkins, et.

al., p. 228-229, 2016). Employers with no parental employees may be able to skirt past family
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leave and childcare issues but will be fumbling in the dark, should the familial status of their

employees change. All companies should create policies that support their team members in both

their professional and personal lives to ensure retention and happy employees.

In their study on mental health among working-class new parents, Jenkins et. al. found that there

were minimal child care supports offered to new parents which is usually an urgent and anxiety

inducing need for new parents considering parental leave, medical appointments, illness and

overall parental need for knowing their child is well taken care of while they’re at work (p. 238,

2016).

The Covid-19 pandemic showed us how the lack of consistent and reliable childcare can affect

parents in the workplace and a disproportionate affect is on the mother or primary parent.

Mothers were more likely to quit their jobs to take care of their children while their daycares

closed or they were fired or laid off due to the lack of parental support of their work environment

(Li, M & Laughlin, C. 2023). In 2018 32% of women who were employed were working

mothers of children under the age of 18 and many of those who aren’t employed site caretaking

as the main reason that they experience joblessness (Christnacht, C. & Sullivan, B., 2020). While

this issue is not unique to women or mothers, it disproportionally affects them and that hits home

to me.

During the pandemic while working from home and subsequently in my ability to have a flexible

work arrangement where I spend 60% of my time in office and 40% remote, I have a specific

clause in my agreement that prohibits me from being the sole caretaker of my children while

working for ASU (ASU FWA agreement, 2024). This specific clause does not allow for the type

of flexibility that I had hoped or that would benefit my family drastically it instead creates a
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situation where I feel upset that my children are not home when I am and I’m distracted by my

distance to them.

On-Site Childcare:

In Arizona childcare can cost on average between $6000 and $10,000 per year, per child (Archer,

2023). The cost of childcare is not limited to the tuition money paid directly to the care worker or

facility. There is the cost of time in the commute, there are added fees for early drop off, late

pick-up, and other instances where children would be at the childcare facility outside of regular

business hours. These costs incurred by the parents are felt by employers and the work that is

needed.

On site childcare can create confidence in parents that their children are being well taken care of

and that they are nearby, this not only eliminates a lot of stress and work-life conflict for parents

(especially mothers) but creates a work culture that is seen as inviting and supportive of their

employees lives (Moyazzem Hossain, Mp., & Abdulla, F. 2024). Cultivating such a work culture

can create a reason for parents to stay in their positions for longer. Participating in the expansion

of childcare availability can have a positive impact on company optics and ultimately lead to

employee retention and stakeholder satisfaction (Leonardi, C., et. al. 2019).

Because of the shared governance model of institutions of higher education the stakeholders in

these decisions would be first at Executive members of leadership, i.e the state (for public

universities such as NAU and ASU) the president and provosts of that institution and it may

include the dean of specific colleges dependent on how the childcare facility would be managed.

I propose that the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College manage the onsite facility and seek to

employ full-time childcare workers as well as internal assistants or part time workers from the
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early childhood and elementary education teacher preparation programs. This will then provide

employees with the needed childcare access and our students with the ability to work on campus

and gain valuable classroom time with young children (White, R. 2024).

Childcare Flexibility:

In addition to or in place of, dependent on cost and need of workers, institutions of higher

education can put in policy and practice a flexibility with parents around childcare during the

work day. This can look like allowing parents to bring their children to their place of work when

needed. Mary Secret studied employers ability to integrate a parenting in the workplace childcare

practice in many workplace settings. While most of the employers clearly outlined that they were

reluctant to allow children in their place of business, most decided that as long as the work was

being completed (some work is better than none) that parents could bring their children with

them. Many parental testimonials were provided but the most provocative for me was “I gave up

a better paying job so that I could bring my granddaughter to work with me every day here”.

This woman found that the flexibility of bringing her granddaughter with her, was of greater

value than more monetary compensation and therefore this company had higher retention levels

(2006).

I think it’s also interesting to note that regardless of usage, workplace flexibility being available

to workers can provide an increased perception of control and impact worker satisfaction and

work-life balance (Kim, J p. 427-469, 2020).

While formal policy changes may not be an option for all institutions, informal flexibility within

departments and from supervisors and leadership can be just as important and impactful. In the

case of the parenting in the workplace study, some businesses felt that informal practice on a
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case-by-case basis was integral in it’s success and allowed the employer to use discretion and

flexibility when needed (Secret, 2006).

Conclusion:

We have a childcare, cost of living, economic, mental health, and foreign affairs crisis almost

every day it seems. Having flexibility in your workplace especially when it comes to your

parenting and childcare can affect almost all of these crisis’ in a positive way. While this topic is

near and dear to me, it’s not a surprise that many new working parents desired more flexibility in

order to remain happy, satisfied in their work, and ultimately stay employed at a company

(school) that values them as whole people, and that includes the part of them that are parents.
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References:

Archer, G. (2023, June 16). Impact of child care costs in Arizona compared to other states.

ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix (KNXV). https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/impact-of-

child-care-costs-in-arizona-compared-to-other-states

ASU (2024). FWA-Request-Form. Tempe; Arizona State University.

Christnacht, C., & Sullivan, B. (2021, October 8). About two-thirds of the 23.5 million working

women with children under 18 worked full-time in 2018. Census.gov.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/05/the-choices-working-mothers-make.html

Dyble, J. (2014). Cost considerations around workplace childcare. Employee

Benefits, http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-

journals/cost-considerations-around-workplace-childcare/docview/1747605396/se-2

Kim, J. Workplace Flexibility and Parent–Child Interactions Among Working Parents in the

U.S.. Soc Indic Res 151, 427–469 (2020). https://doi-

org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/10.1007/s11205-018-2032-y

Leonardi, C., Schiavo, G., & Zancanaro, M. (2019). Sharing the office, sharing the care?

Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communities & Technologies –

Transforming Communities. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328320.3328385

Li, M., & Laughlin, C. (2023). Care as infrastructure: Rethinking working mothers’ childcare

crisis during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Gender, Work & Organization.

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https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13107

Moyazzem Hossain, Mp., & Abdulla, F. (2024). Bridging the gap: The imperative for workplace

childcare to empower working mothers. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 36(2–3),

291–292. https://doi.org/10.1177/10105395241230747

Perry-Jenkins, M., Smith, J. Z., Wadsworth, L. P., & Halpern, H. P. (2016). Workplace policies

and mental health among working-class, new parents. Community, Work & Family,

20(2), 226–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2016.1252721

Secret, M. (2006). Integrating paid work and family work. Community, Work & Family,

9(4), 407–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668800600925027

White, R. (2024). Child care is a business issue. (n.d.).

https://tootris.com/edu/blog/employers/employers-child-care-is-a-business-issue/