Caregivers have lost their village
They say it takes a village to raise a child, but most parents today don’t have one. Previous generations may once have had tight-knit communities to turn to for caregiving needs, but new research shows such support has disappeared, weighing on both working parents and their employers.
See what's changing
Download the infographic to see how vanishing villages impact your people and workplace.
Working without support
say that finding other people to watch their children during the workday is more difficult than they expected
feel they are at the mercy of other people’s generosity when it comes to child care during the workday
of those who have support say they rely on a patchwork of people to watch their children
Limited villages limit potential
Research shows the impact of these care gaps are profound, affecting employees’ focus, productivity, and ability to work at all.
- Caregivers are missing work: When parents have no one to call, they call out of work. And employees with children under 12 experience an average of four or more care breakdowns per month.
- Employees are distracted: Beyond absences, parents spend valuable worktime on “what-ifs.” More than half of working parents are constantly stressed about what they would do if their regular child care fell through or was unexpectedly unavailable during the workday.
- Employers are losing talent: Caregivers are a pool of rising leaders. And of the hundreds of thousands of women who left the workforce in 2025, nearly half cited caregiving responsibilities as a cause. This means breakdowns are threatening your talent pipelines as well as individual workdays.
Give your people a village with Bright Horizons
-
Child care providers employees know they can depend on — and feel good about
-
Back-up care that can be called on when regular care arrangements break down
-
School-age camps that effortlessly fill the 100-plus days where school is out and work is on
-
Care concierges who create care plans, helping people worry less and focus more
-
Tutoring and educational guidance to support parents of children in grade school through high school
-
Help for the sandwich generation, with short-term care and coaching to help families navigate what's next
Bright Horizons has decades of experience partnering with employers to provide those villages, creating communities of caregivers that support employees — and bottom lines:
Ready to get started?
Explore how to build a village your employees can depend on.
Looking to book care or access your employee benefits? Get started here.