What is it really like to find childcare for working parents?
As many of us know firsthand, finding childcare solutions for working professionals can be surprisingly complex, and the challenges often extend well beyond cost. We are an operations management research team — Jun Li (Ross School of Business, University of Michigan), Senthil Veeraraghavan (the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), and Yueyang Zhong (London Business School) — exploring operational solutions to childcare policy challenges. This forum collects real experiences from working families: what solutions they used, what stood in their way, and what they would change.
Major topics
Select a word to read the sharings that mention it.
In their own words
“I have to pick two, because they're interrelated - more options for backup care and for employer support.”
“Nanny, family support, adjusted work schedule, childcare center. There are options available, but it is hard to find the right combination of quality, affordability, and accessibility.”
“Daycare and occasional babysitters. Yes, satisfied, although it is highly local. My university has a daycare on campus, and while we had to wait for a long time, it was great when we eventually had a spot.”
Recent sharings
View all →While I did not have a long waiting time, the main issue was coverage. It was covid time and the nurseries were offering at most 3 days a week (while I was looking a service for 5 days a week). I gradually manage to increment to 4 days and…
The biggest challenge was the initial year of daycare - as a new parent, you think you have obtained reliable childcare, but then your child (and the rest of the family) gets sick every few weeks and it throws a wrench into all of your plan…
long waiting times