Employee Attitudes Towards Employer-Sponsored Child Care: Evidence from France

Abstract

The increasing numbers of women in the labour market and the rise in dual-career couples have prompted many organizations to introduce programmes to help their employees balance their work and personal lives. Positive employee perceptions of such initiatives have tended to be assumed rather than demonstrated. This study examines how a proposal for a worklife balance programme is actually viewed by employees. Drawing on survey data from 300 employees in a shopping centre in France, the study finds evidence of a range of attitudes. These attitudes are influenced not only by existing and potential constraints, but also by the possibility of the employees benefiting from child care as well as their views concerning the role of the organization. Attitudes towards the provision of child care are particularly positive when they seek to attenuate difficulties of work organization and are consistent with a flexible approach that takes employees’ personal constraints into account.

View PDF