Recommendations

The following recommendations come from day-care workers, parents, labor organizers, and experts in the field: * Industries should consider a wide variety of options to assist workers who need child care. On-site facilities are usually not prefereble. They raise insurance and safety questions, among other things. But companies may wish to set up information services to refer workers to community family day-care, after-school programs, and local babysitting cooperatives. Noonday bag lunch programs are also useful in sharing information and discussing family problems.

* Industries should review their personnel policies to include flexitime, shared-time, and multiple fringe benefit packages that would help worker-parents arrange schedules to spend more time with their families.

*Industry programs should aim at all income levels -- with child-care subsidies or vouchers to help lower-income workers pay the costs of child care.

* Business should earmark funds for neighborhood services to children. This might include forming consortiums to purchase and guarantee spots in neighborhood day-care centers and group homes and subsidizing emergency care for short periods in workers' own homes.

Government should increase tax incentives for industries that loan funds to build day-care facilities, support community efforts, and set up information and referral services.

* Company unions should contract studies to determine what type of day care their members want. In some cases, the option can be included on the collective bargainin g agenda.