It's time to talk about childcare.

Last week, I was honored to participate in the Moms First National Business Coalition on Childcare’s Corporate Champions event with US Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo in Washington DC. This event included business leaders from across industries to celebrate bold new commitments to expand childcare for American workers. The format featured a panel discussion on the economic imperative for childcare and a fireside chat with the Commerce Secretary, followed by a landmark research partnership announcement with Boston Consulting Group to ensure that we’re measuring the gains of childcare investment.

As a child, I remember my single mom having to constantly make difficult tradeoffs to pursue her career in Library Science and as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois. I remember how hard it was for her to find suitable childcare, which often resulted in me spending afternoons in her office doing homework, or hanging out at the public library or student union until she could get off of work. She relied on the kindness of school families to give her time to travel and present her research on the African diaspora. I grew up fully appreciating the fact that her loving dedication to her craft and motherhood were the two biggest things that fueled her. She couldn’t imagine making the tradeoff of having one without the other, and neither could I. So much of who I am as a leader today, came from watching another strong female leader achieve great things both personally and professionally.?

Fast forward to today, and I see this same dedication in the lives of many women I work with at WeightWatchers. Women who are truly dedicated to the mission and their families. Finding a way to make this work has inspired our efforts to continually evaluate and refresh our parent friendly benefits. We support our teammates and their families while encouraging them to live their healthiest lives. We understand the importance of work-life integration and believe the strength of our community shows up in the care we extend to our members and each other. Here are a few examples of what we’ve done in this space:

• We’ve established ourselves corporately as a Work from Wherever (WfW) organization, which is designed to drive more flexibility while also mitigating the need and cost of before and after childcare, typically generated by commuting (more to come on how we’re optimizing WfW in a future blog!). A WfW model also makes it easier to coordinate family logistics (E.g. appointments, pick ups, recitals, etc.) while continuing to drive work forward.
• We offer 26 weeks of parental leave at 100% salary continuance, no matter how their family is formed or parent gender identity, to bond with a newborn or child who joins the family.
• We offer complimentary memberships to Care.com , including 5 days of back-up care, providing parents with access to child, elder, and pet care providers, date night sitters, daycare discounts, tutoring, housekeeping and more.?
• We partner with Maven for more clinical support across a spectrum of care needs for reproductive health. There’s also support for becoming a parent, asking any parenting question under the sun, postpartum care along with menopause coaches and resources.?
• In 2020 we implemented Kunik, a virtual parents Employee Resource Group (ERG) that focused on community, coaching, and fortified DE&I intersections.?
• Teammates are also welcome to submit healthy family activities and hobbies under our Wellbeing Allowance Program. ?

Making it easier for working moms to contribute to the workforce has long-term, economic implications that will benefit us, or hinder us if we don’t take action. This is far from a finish line commentary at WW. We will continue to listen to our teams, benchmark our offerings and mine for gaps in our coverage. But as my mom would often tell me, ‘the journey of a 1000 miles, starts with the first step.’ I’m excited to take these first steps and to continue to push for coverage for working parents at WW, and lend our voice in partnership with the National Business Coalition on Childcare. Click here to learn more about how your organization can engage!