Brief What Employers Need to Know about Nontraditional-Hour Child Care in Austin/Travis County, Texas
Subtitle
Need for Nontraditional-Hour Care, Challenges to Access, and Recommendations
Jonah Norwitt, Dawn Dow, Eve Mefferd, Diane Schilder, Laura Wagner, Cary Lou, Justin B. Doromal
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This brief presents findings that are most relevant to employers. from a study of nontraditional-hour child care in Austin/Travis County. Findings are based on an analysis of data collected through interviews and focus groups and analyses of survey and administrative data.

Key findings:

  • The highest potential demand for nontraditional-hour child care in Travis County is early in the morning or early in the evening during the workweek and anytime on the weekend.
  • Parents and employers say lack of available nontraditional-hour child care (before 7:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m. during the traditional workweek and anytime on weekends) has adverse effects in terms of employee reliability and ability to work during nontraditional hours.
  • Employers and community leaders view lack of child care as a problem for employers. Lack of nontraditional-hour child care can limit the pool of people who can reliably work during nontraditional hours.
  • Employers play a key role in addressing the nontraditional-hour child care needs of their employees by partnering with child care providers, constructing work schedules with parents’ caregiving needs in mind, and working with local leaders to support policies that provide public policies and funding for nontraditional-hour child care.
Research and Evidence Family and Financial Well-Being Work, Education, and Labor Housing and Communities Tax and Income Supports Research to Action Technology and Data Race and Equity
Expertise Families Thriving Cities and Neighborhoods Social Safety Net Labor Markets Taxes and the Economy Upward Mobility and Inequality Early Childhood Immigration
Research Methods Data analysis Data collection Qualitative data analysis Quantitative data analysis
Tags Child care Child care and early education Child care workers and early childhood teachers Child care subsidies and affordability Families with low incomes Family and household data Work-family balance Immigrant access to the safety net Immigrant children, families, and communities Immigrant communities and racial equity Immigrants and the economy Immigrant-serving organizations Immigrant communities demographics and trends Job markets and labor force Workers in low-wage jobs Kids in context Latinx communities Parenting Poverty Race, gender, class, and ethnicity Racial and ethnic disparities Racial barriers to accessing the safety net Structural racism Public and private investment State and local tax issues State programs, budgets Wages and economic mobility Welfare and safety net programs Alternative or nonstandard work arrangements Children and youth
States Texas
Cities Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX
Counties Travis County
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