Child care ranks among the top five factors responsible for employee absenteeism. In a poll of the nation’s largest companies, employers estimated that unscheduled absenteeism costs their businesses more than $760,000 per year in direct payroll costs, as well as lower productivity, lost revenue, and poor morale. The latter effects, while often hard to quantify, can be the most devastating to organizational success. 

Most working families cannot afford in-home caregivers, which makes the need for child care options outside the home essential to those seeking to secure and retain employment. In 62% of married-couple families, both parents work. 71% of single-mother families and 83% of single-father families are represented in the American workforce.

“Offering my employees enhanced child care resources and referral benefits made a huge difference in retention rates. It is now one of the key benefits that we can offer to prospective employees.“

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Forsyth County was $45,809 in the year 2012. This was $641 below the median household income for the state of North Carolina ($46,450) and $5,562 less than the national average ($51,371). In Forsyth County, the average annual cost of full-time center care for an infant is currently at $7,500 – just a few dollars more than the average annual tuition and fees paid at a four-year state university.