Millennials are now the largest generation in the US labor force. They are also giving birth at a faster rate than any other generation. So that means there are a lot of working parents who need childcare.
Unfortunately, the companies that we work for haven't gotten the memo. In 2016, over 70% of women with children under 18 participated in the labor force. We are "leaning in" because that's what millennial women know they have to do these days to survive. But it hasn't even occurred to most companies that they should provide on-site daycare facilities for their employees. (The notable exception, of course, is the amazingly family-friendly Patagonia.)
Amazon is way ahead of most American companies as far as providing its employees paid parental leave for up to 20 weeks. But their support for parents seems to stop there. In fact, instead of building an on-site daycare at its headquarters in Seattle, it decided to build a giant biodome filled with exotic plants instead. Because there's nothing like eating lunch under a palm tree to forget all your childcare woes....
I am a millennial working mom living in Philadelphia, one of the cities on Amazon's short list for their new headquarters. Good childcare options here are so scarce that I put my baby on three daycare waitlists when I was four months pregnant. A spot opened up for him a year later. Daycare scarcity is a huge problem here, and I know that it is in a lot of the other cities on Amazon's short list as well.
There will be a huge influx of new families with young children wherever Amazon decides to set up their new headquarters. That means it will become even harder to get good childcare. Prices will go up. Parents across the board will suffer.
Amazon has the opportunity to do the right thing for both their employees and their new city. Let's make sure they do it. Sign my petition to demand that Amazon build an on-site daycare in their new headquarters office.
