DIA explores creating on-site child care facility for its workers
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Two-year-old Mile Feiger, of Seattle, naps at Denver International Airport on Nov. 26, 2019 in Denver. Photo: Joe Mahoney/Getty Images
Denver International Airport is exploring how it can provide on-site child care for its 40,000-plus employees.
Why it matters: Child care is costly, can be hard to find, and can hinder people's ability to accept new jobs or even promotions.
Driving the news: Denver airport CEO Phil Washington presented a plan on Wednesday to a city council committee for a feasibility study to create a child care facility at the world's fifth-busiest airport.
- The plan calls for housing the facility inside the airport's Center of Equity and Excellence, a training center currently under construction set to be completed next year.
What they're saying: "We believe that providing stable child care really empowers individuals who face barriers to employment," Washington said Wednesday.
- Airport staff pitched the idea as helping attract and retain employees, citing a recent survey saying 44% of parents in Colorado have turned down a new job offer due to child care problems.
State of play: The airport is seeking $800,000 for a three-year contract with Denver-based Colorado Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC), a nonprofit focused on child care and education policies, to complete the study.
- The idea isn't novel: A child care center opened at Denver-based Guild in 2021, while the nonprofit Mile High United Way is nearing completion of its own facility, according to the Denver Business Journal.
Between the lines: The contract's length will give the airport time to determine things like who can use the services — for example, whether it could be available to the general public — and how it will operate.
- DIA deputy chief of staff Andrea Albo said EPIC will use data and community feedback to determine how it will work.
The big picture: Studies suggest providing such benefits to workers can be beneficial to companies offering it, though they are relatively rare.
- Child care benefits available to only about 12% of U.S. workers, per a March study by Boston Consulting Group and Moms First, but they're gaining momentum as a vital tool for companies to retain workers, Axios' Emily Peck writes.
Zoom in: Measuring the financial impact of the child care benefits divided by costs to provide them translates to high returns on investment for companies, per the study,
- The findings were based on research on five companies, including one based in Colorado, Steamboat Ski Resort. The others included Etsy, Fast Retailing, Synchrony and UPS.
- "These benefits pay for themselves," the authors wrote.
What's next: The proposal for DIA now moves to the full Denver City Council for final consideration.