The Best Place for Working Parents® National Trends Report identifies and lifts up key trends across the Top 10 Best Place for Working Parents® research-backed policies and annually assesses leading and lagging family-friendly practices across business size, region, and industry.

New to the report this year, we are providing industry insights to help business leaders understand which policies have become “standard practice” in their industry, and which policies can help them to “stand out” amongst their competition.

Looking ahead to 2024, The Best Place for Working Parents® anticipates the following key trends:

1. On-site child care will continue to grow. While still a relatively rare benefit, the implementation rate of on-site child care is growing faster than any other benefit – with a 47% increase since 2019. This is great news, given that businesses who offer onsite child care for employees experience a 7.4X higher retention rate and 8.9X more loyal employees1. Micro businesses are leading in the pack in implementing onsite child care alongside their large-sized peers.
2. Flexible work arrangements and remote work are here to stay – which is good for parents, and for business. 96% of Best Place for Working Parents® designated businesses offer flexible work schedules, and experience employees who rate their workplace as 123.2X more supportive than their peers. Alongside flexible hours, 93% of designated businesses offer remote work. Employers offering remote work have 2.1X more motivated employees, who also experience 2X better health outcomes.
3. Parental leave and child care supports are differentiators in a competitive talent market. Across the Best Place for Working Parents® top industries, back-up child care (subsidizing care for children when school is out or child care falls through), child care assistance (like a Dependent Care FSA), and parental leave policies are all benefits that can help companies stand out in the current labor market.