Corporate day-care faces financial problems
by Richard Lemon
Corporation presidents laugh at the idea, working
mothers show little interest in it. and city and stats
regulations often make the whole thing an expensive
nightmare. Against such odds it would seem that the
notion of company-operated day-care centers might
never progress beyond the gleam in a sociologist's
eyes.
But 11 such centers now exist in the US., and
many observers believe they represent an idea whose
time has come. This belief is based on three facts:
1) Corporate day-care centers are increasingly
important in a country with 4.6 million working
mothers of children under six.
2) Such centers apparently reduce costly
absenteeism, lateness and turnover.
3) And many of the centers have already proved a
boon to employers and working mothers alike.
1 think we're going to sea a helluva lot more
corporal day care, says Roger Wheeler, general
manager of corporate personnel for Control Data
Corp, which runs a center for the children of 30
employes in Rffinneapolis. "If tfte government would
help with some of the unusual costs, like creation of
fatalities, then business, with its interest in a stable
work force, would join fen a good marriage. I think
such a marriage is imminent."
The idea of a company caring for its employes"
young is nothing new. The oldest such center in the
country seems to be one now run by the Curlee
Clothing Co. m Mayfield. Ky.; it apparently was
started so that wives could make uniforms for their
men during the Civil War.
During World War II. similarly, a number of
centers were created and subsidized under the
Lanham Act. But the act ended with the war, most of
the centers closed, and interest in the idea has only
recentfy revived.
Many of time who have looked into the problems
have given up because of the expense. Tba Labor
Department has found the existing inpgrami cost
anywhere from $1j000 to $2,209 per chad, while
executives of one major bank in New York put the
potential cost of running a center on IVaH Street at a
staggering $3,500 per chSd.
Even after the company's subsidy, the costs to a
working mother may be high. At the Green Shoe
Wanufacturing Co. center in the Roxbury Ghetto,
near Boston, the weekly charge ranges from $10 to
$25 per child. At a Vanderbilt Shirt Co. center in
Asheville. N .C. the cost $13 for the first child and
$9 for other children. Vanderbilts president Herbert
Wadppin notes that such fees may seem high to
mothers ""if they can get Grandma for free.""
And n fact, fewer than half of the IS) eligible
children of Vanderbilt employes have been enrolled.
While at a KUH center in Cambridge.onty four of 70
children belong to KLH ernioyes; most of the rest are
children of workers at Polaroid or M.I.T. or are sent
by the welfare department.
Governmental reflations can present an even
more intimidating hurdle. The whole thing about
establishing a day-care center here is wild,"" says Jan
Tyroler of the Agency for Child Development in Mew
York. Too Fma0y get to step five and they say. "Go
bact to step two end half."
Library seeks student input
Students and faculty will have an
opportunity Monday to help establish priorities
and voice gripes about Lone Library, according
to Director of Libraries John Heussrnan.
The library staff wants to know Where the
Qtbrary should direct its rather limited means.
Heussman said.
"We want to know What the user requires
and iif the things he needs are available m the
Sforary,"" he said.
About ten per cent of the student and
faculty population wiU receive the 75-cjuesiion
tsrva. Htetssrrasri sssiL There h space el fheend
of the form if the anonymous respondents wish
to make additional comments, he added-
The maze of regulations created by fire, health and
building departments in New York has been cited by
one frustrated bank official as a major reason for the
collapse of one planned program. The elaborate rules
cover, among other tilings, group composition,
location (not above the second floor), required
consulting services (at least seven must be available),
and the precise dimensions of tables where diapers are
to be changed.
A Polaroid offical in Boston calls wading through
the city and state requirements then; "an
unbelievable hassle," and St. Luke's Hospital in San
Francisco found that, to comply with regulations, a
center for 100 kids would have to take up an entire
city block and cost almost $1 million.
As a result, many of the successful centers have
been founded outside large cities, often by textile
firms, which have a high percentage of women
working. And the results at these center have been
Mnpresstve. The Vanderbilt center in Asheville has
found that the absentee rate of mothers with enrolled
children is less man half that of eligible mothers who
aren't using the center.
Some non-corporate centers have reported the
same sort of results. The Memorial Baptist Hospital in
Houston has been providing day care for nurses'
children since 1955. "We have about 50 mothers who
wouldn't work down here if they couldnt bring their
children," says Jennette James, the supervisor. The
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA)
has opened a free center for its members in Chicago,
and B. Kuppenheimer & Co. is now planning to
convert one of its warehouses to a second center to
be run by the ACWA.
In Washington, the Department of Labor has a
two-and-a-half year old day-care center for 63
children. Some 53 per cent of the supervisors of
mothers using the center have reported an
improvement in attendance and promptness, and 71
per cent report an improvement in performance.
But to some advocates of corporate child care,
such benefits are only part of a broader picture of
company responsiblity, which is far more important
than the obvious problems involved in getting a
center started. "These people are not only our
employes, they're our customers, too," says
Vanderbilt president Herbert Wadcpin. "If a
company isn't part of its community these days, ifs
just not going to keep good workers."
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Hikers raise funds, blisters
Almost 2JXX3 persons raised barters and almost
S30JOO0 in a 21-mTJe walk Saturday. The hike, the
second annual Walk for Development, was sponsored
by the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation.
Mike Jank, walk coordinator, tebeled the walk "a
big success. He said the partictfjarris raised about
$33v000 for IS local and foreign projects.
Each evatker was sponsored by a firm or individual
who paid the participant for each rnQe svalked.
The group, mostly high school and jjuniior high
students, set off from the State Fairgrounds at 7:33
ajm. Most finished the course which led through
downtown Lincoln and into the rural area northwest
of town.
The hikers were joined by three politicians: Rep.
Charles Thone; Wallace Peterson, candidate for the
US. Senate; and DanreJ Berg, candidate for Congress
from the first congressional district.
JSONDAY. MAY 1, 1972
PAGE 3
THE DAILY NEBRASKA?