October 20, 1998 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Childcare benefits remain uncommon

Private employers extended childcare benefits to 1 out of 25 employees in 1995-96. Childcare benefits were barely measurable when the Bureau of Labor Statistics first included them in a survey of medium and large establishments in 1985 and have increased only slightly since more comprehensive data were first collected in 1990.

[Table data—TXT]

In 1995-96, workers in medium and large private establishments were more likely to receive childcare benefits than were workers in small establishments. Among occupational groups by establishment size, the largest difference across categories was the spread between professional and technical employees in medium and large establishments (15 percent of whom received childcare benefits) and blue-collar and service workers in small establishments (less than 1 percent of whom received childcare benefits).

Full-time employees were no more likely to receive benefits than were part-timers. There were only small differences in the incidence of childcare benefits for those in the service-producing sector of the economy versus workers in goods-producing industries, as well as for full-time employees covered by collective bargaining agreements versus those not covered.

Childcare benefits include employer-managed facilities both on and off the worksite, as well as direct payments to other providers.

These data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employee Benefit Survey. For additional information, see Issues in Labor Statistics: Employer-sponsored Childcare Benefits.