Employers Embrace Family-Oriented Benefits Companies Seek Productivity Gains From Child Care, Elder-Care Assistance

Productivity pressures on downsized work forces make it hard to balance work and family life, but there’s evidence that employers are trying to help.

A survey released last week by Hewitt Associates shows substantial growth in the last five years in the number of U.S. companies offering employee benefits such as child care and elder-care assistance.

“Most employers don’t do things out of the goodness of their heart,” noted Nancy Day, assistant professor of human resources at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Business and Public Administration.

“They do things because there’s a bottomline impact. So, obviously, most good human resource programs are showing positive returns in productivity or some other financial measurement.”

Although policies may be slow to change, the Hewitt survey shows increased sensitivity among top managers. The management consulting firm, which specializes in employee benefits and human resources, surveyed 1,050 large employers nationally.

Among the companies polled: 85 percent offered some kind of child care assistance in 1995, up from 64 percent in 1990.

Among companies offering such benefits, the most common programs were dependent-care spending accounts (96 percent) and child care referral services (40 percent).

26 percent offered some kind of elder-care assistance in 1995, up from 12 percent five years earlier. The most common program was resource and referral assistance.

67 percent allowed flexible work schedules, compared with 54 percent in 1990.

23 percent offered adoption benefits, up from 11 percent five years earlier.

84 percent had employee-assistance programs, compared with 73 percent in 1990. Employee-assistance programs, generally offered through contracts with outside providers, typically offer mental health and substance-abuse counseling.

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