Companies looking to ease employees’ stress over the summer are offering a new perk — discounted summer camp and childcare.
More men are becoming family caregivers
Men face a unique set of challenges when it comes to stepping into the role of a caregiver.
Kids might be excited about the end of the school year and for summer to begin, but many working parents who don’t know how to fill their kids’ long summer days may be feeling some dread right about now.
AT&T is trying to change that. The third largest U.S. wireless carrier is launching an onsite summer camp at its Dallas, Texas, headquarters in June to give its employees more convenient options for reliable childcare during the school break.
Childcare outranked any other perk including mental health support, paid maternity/paternity leave and tuition reimbursements as a benefit employers aimed to offer their workers last year, according to a Care.com survey of corporate-suite and human resource leaders. One in 5 employees said they had left a job because their employer didn’t provide family care benefits, and a lack of childcare benefits topped the list of reasons they sought another job.
“The summer camp was in response to specific asks and pain points our employees had,” said Matt Phillips, AT&T assistant vice president of benefits.
But childcare isn’t the only caregiving people ask for nowadays, he said. People want help caring for every important person, or sometimes pet, in their lives, he said.
What’s different about summer?
“When planning vacations and summer activities, there may be days sporadically that fall throughout the summer when people need some childcare,” Phillips said.
To help ease worries of what to do with kids on those days, AT&T employees can register their children ages 4-12 for the 10-week onsite camp that runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Families have the flexibility to book one or multiple days whenever they’d like throughout the summer. There’s no weekly sessions or commitments required.
If employees use their backup care benefits, a day of camp would cost $15 for one child or $25 for two or more children.
AT&T backup care allow workers up to 10 days of subsidized childcare if their primary care option is unavailable, and they can’t take time off. They can choose center care for $15 per day or in-home care with a Bright Horizons caregiver for $4 an hour. Bright Horizons runs childcare centers and early education services nationwide.
Additional days of summer camp can be bought at a discounted rate.
What are other types of caregiving?
Caregiving has typically meant childcare, but the COVID-19 pandemic, an aging population and rising costs have expanded the definition to include siblings, parents, grandparents and even pets.
Gen Z through Gen X and even some of the youngest members of the Baby Boomers who expect to retire soon are demanding personalized benefits beyond retirement funds, salary and vacation days.
Job seekers, even those fresh out of school, now have a “holistic outlook,” said Blayre Riley, 22. “We’re not just looking at salary.”
Riley doesn’t have kids, but she has a 6-year-old kid brother.
Her job benefits allow her to use so-called caregiver days, which are paid hours she can use to take care of a sick friend, relative or other loved one or take them to appointments, for example.
With these benefits, if her little brother “has a class party, I can go in the morning and come back to work in the afternoon, and it doesn’t feel like a burden to my team,” Riley said. “Or if he has a day off school and my parents work, I can spend time with him.”
“My dad always talks about when I was younger, his job didn’t have this flexibility and when my mom was sick, he couldn’t take her to doctor’s appointments,” she added. “Now, my job has it, and it can exist for everyone.”
What’s at stake?
- The lack of available childcare alone costs the economy $122 billion every year, according to a 2023 study from the bipartisan Council for a Strong America. Yet, just 12% of all U.S. workers have access to childcare benefits through their employer, and only 6% of those who work part-time or in the lowest income quartile do, according to a Boston Consulting Group study published last year.
- Family caregivers ages 50 and older who leave the workforce to care for a parent lost $303,880, on average, in income and benefits over a caregiver’s lifetime, according to a 2016 Families Caring for an Aging America study. The breakdown was as follows: $115,900 in lost wages, $137,980 in lost Social Security benefits, and conservatively $50,000 in lost pension benefits. Still, only 13% of companies offer eldercare referral services, and just 1% of companies offer employees subsidies for eldercare, according to SHRM’s 2024 Employee Benefits Survey.
- Lack of support leads to caregiver burnout. Half of caregivers said caregiving increased their level of emotional stress, while 37% said it impacted their physical feelings of stress according to a 2023 AARP survey.
What can companies do?
Companies “must address new needs, particularly around things like caregiving benefits, absence and leave benefits, and wellness benefits in all forms, as well as personalizing/customizing benefits to keep their workers happy,” said Bryan Hodgens, head of research at Life Insurance Management Research Association, or LIMRA, in a report.
Comprehensive caregiving benefits like flexible work arrangements, paid leave, financial support, and access to education, consultations, resources, and digital caregiving platforms can improve workers’ wellbeing and boost businesses. BCG found that childcare benefits alone deliver returns of up to 425% of their cost for companies across the U.S.
Aside from caregiving, it’s imperative companies also offer employees opportunities for self-care. Healthier habits help keep healthcare costs down for both employees and employers.
AT&T, for example, offers a Wellbeing Choice Account to reward employees for healthy habits. Employees and their partners or spouses can each earn up to $750 annually for completing wellness activities like getting their annual physical. They can then use that money to go towards fitness classes, an exercise bike, student loan repayment, massages and facials, and healthy meal kits.
“It’s like free money because you’re getting paid to do things you should be doing anyway,” said Ryan Stafford, an AT&T employee who used his rewards to buy a nicer bike than he would have been able to afford. “l had no guilt spending a little more,” he said.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
