Back-Up Care: Managing the School Holiday Juggle
For many working parents, the Easter holidays is a juggle of conflicting commitments and priorities as well as controlling the consumption of a lot of chocolate. Children are home from school for two to three weeks, while at the same time most working parents cannot take leave to cover the entire period resulting in taking on at times a debilitating mental load of how they can do it all.
Bright Horizons Modern Families Index 2024 report reveals that for many parents not enough support is in place and compared to last year, the number of employers willing to extend a supportive arm is waning. Yet, with childcare critical for working parents to continue performing effectively at work, the absence of a solution continues. In 2023, 2 out of 3 working parents needed at least one day off for childcare at short notice while over a third (34%) say caring changes the hours they are available for work.
For many employees, these caring responsibilities are putting them under significant and increasing strain due in part to the challenges of finding high-quality, affordable, and available care. Not only is this taking its toll on mental and physical wellbeing, but for many employees it is limiting their career choices and progression. In this article, we explore why it could be time for your organisation to offer next-level support with Back Up Care.
The Back-Up Care Advantage
Employers may be oblivious to the strain that lack of adequate childcare is having to their employees before it is too late and manifests itself in burnout, anxiety, and low productivity.
Providing Back-Up Care offers a ‘go-to’ solution for employees that may not have the provision of a supportive family or friends or the access to adequate childcare to ensure they can continue to do the job they love.
Available Back-Up Care Options
Back-Up Care comes in various forms, all offering unique benefits that can help employees choose the best possible solution for their specific needs, be it emergency care, or school holiday cover. By providing your employees with access to Back-Up Care as diverse and the families they serve, you'll enable them to better manage last-minute arrangements due to unexpected schedule changes, or plan ahead for childcare cover rather than relying on their annual leave days.
Back-Up Childcare with Bright Horizons offers comprehensive solutions to support working parents such as:Qualified Nannies: Our service provides qualified nannies who can care for your employees’ children in the comfort of their home, maintaining their routine while engaging them in enjoyable activities or overseeing their studies.
Holiday Camps & Clubs: Children can enjoy a wide range of activities, make new friends, and learn new skills at one of our 900 holiday club and camp providers, ensuring they have a fun and enriching experience during school breaks.
Nationwide Network of Nurseries: Bright Horizons offers access to a nationwide network of high-quality nurseries, providing a familiar and nurturing environment for your employees’ children. They can even request inclusion of their child's usual nursery in our Back-Up Care network for added convenience and familiarity.
These solutions help alleviate overall absenteeism, (but most especially around holidays) eases transitions into school schedules, and relieves the stress and anxiety of juggling work and caregiving responsibilities for busy parents.
Back-Up Care provides:
- Peace of mind: Employees are free to focus knowing their loved ones are being looked after.
- Reliable options: Working parents need to plan for the school holidays in advance as well as for the peaks and troughs of childcare provision, when a school is closed, when childhood illness hits or when normal supports fall through. The Back Up Care solution provides a large network of vetted caregivers, offering nationwide childcare in 3,500 high-quality centres that is accessible whatever the day for when care plans fall through.
- Employee Commitment: Offering next-level childcare support can be a vital lifeline for working parents, in turn fostering loyalty, retention and reducing employee absence.
- Career saving supports: Family comes first for most working parents and when childcare juggles arise it can feel impossible to commit to career progression.
With over 3 in 4 working parents reporting that they would need to carefully consider their childcare options before accepting a promotion or a new job, Back-Up Care is a game-changer for employers looking to retain and attract top talent.
