The current childcare crisis is affecting the competitiveness of every startup in the UK today. More childcare centers and nurseries have shut in London than in any other part of the UK. Throughout the pandemic, working parents–all too often women—were forced to leave full-time employment due to inadequate childcare. And even more worrying, the cost of childcare for a one-year-old child has grown seven times faster than wages in the nation’s capital—that’s 75 percent higher than the rest of England.
Without childcare, gender parity and the innovation gains that come with it, cannot happen. Childcare is essential to women’s ability to stay in the workforce, irrespective of whether they choose to have children. There are astonishingly few women in positions of seniority across the tech sector—largely due to childcare.
- 1 in 4 working women rate childcare support as the most important benefit employers can offer to improve gender equality.
- Almost ninety percent of parents are more loyal to employers that offer childcare support.
- The loss of a single working parent to inadequate childcare can cost a startup with already limited reserves thousands in recruitment, onboarding, training and productivity loss.
Visit Bubble For Startups to learn more about our new initiative enabling Greater London startups to add flexible, on-demand childcare to their employee benefits offering.
