Growing Family? Power Now Offers Subsidized Child Care

Culture

As more parents (especially women) struggle to balance work and home life, POWER is stepping up to support employees and their families by offering subsidized child care.

In the past few years, we’ve seen the costs of child care continue to climb. In fact, families that pay for child care spend about 26% of their household income on it, forcing many parents — mostly women — to choose between work and raising a family.

At POWER, we believe that our employees shouldn’t have to choose.

Read on to learn more about our latest benefit offering — subsidized child care.

Why is POWER Offering Child Care Coverage?

power point slide featuring text that states, "our economy runs on the unpaid work of women." — *At POWER’s annual Women’s Summit, co-CEO Asher Raphael discusses women in the workforce and how employers can step up to better support them.*

Over the past few decades, we’ve seen the rise in egalitarian households where both partners are part of the workforce, which begs the question, “who steps up to raise the children?”

Large and small businesses alike have a responsibility to address that question, and support parents — especially women — both inside and outside of the workplace.

At POWER’s annual Women’s Summit this year, Asher took the stage to proudly announce that the company would be offering subsidized child care to employees and their families — something we’ve been working towards for years.

“I’ve seen and heard the struggle of working mothers enough to have it rile something up inside of me,” stated POWER’s Co-CEO Asher Raphael. “I am passionate — we are passionate as an organization — to come up with solutions to keep women in the workforce.”

How is a Benefit Like This Made Possible?

Power employee poses for a photo with her family including her newborn baby. — *POWER’s Vice President of Business Affairs, Leigh Shackleford, is excited about the company’s new child care benefit after welcoming the newest addition to her growing family, her daughter Amelia.*

We’ve partnered with TOOTRiS, the largest, most comprehensive child care benefits platform in the country, and a company whose values very much align with our own. Through the TOOTRiS platform, employees will have access to:

Instant access on any device to search, vet, tour, and enroll your child in quality child care programs – seeing real-time availability of openings

200,000+ licensed child care providers across all 50 states, covering all types of care including full-time, backup, after-school, summer camps, and more

24/7 concierge support to help parents find the specific care they need

“One of the biggest challenges for me is balancing my time as a mom and a VP. It is easy to have guilt on both sides- not spending enough time with my daughter or not devoting enough time to my team at work,” said Leigh Shackelford, Vice President of Business Affairs. “POWER’s partnership with TOOTRiS allows me to be a working mom. Without a daycare that we can trust and afford I would not be able to grow in my career and set the example for my daughter that you can have it all. I am proud to work for a company that supports me inside and outside of work!”

How Does it Work?

Power employee and child pose together for a photo at one of the company's annual charity events. — *With POWER’s new child care benefit, the company hopes to better support their employees as they grow their families.*

The new benefit will offset the cost of child care by up to 40%, providing employees (per household) up to $5,000, tax-free, annually for child care costs. And the benefit is available to all parents at Power whether they are enrolled in our healthcare plan or not. It’s also available on day one of employment.

“Being a single parent, I’m the only person my family relies on financially but also emotionally, and I never want them to felt neglected. I’m constantly wondering if I’m doing enough to satisfy both worlds, at home and at work. On top of that, there’s the burden of how expensive child care is, and the challenge of finding affordable care that’s great quality. With this new benefit from POWER, I’m now able to enroll my child into programs that are great quality for so much less. I’m excited to see how that positively impacts our lives.”
— London Tilghman, Remodeling Consultant Mentor

How Else is POWER Supporting Women?

While this benefit is for all parents at Power, it’s also part of a larger mission to help keep women in the workforce, which is especially challenging in an industry that hasn’t always been the most welcoming to them.

Here are a few others ways we support women within our walls:

Infertility coverage
Adoption and surrogacy support
Inclusive parental leave policy
A travel and lodging reimbursement policy for those seeking medical care out of state
Community, mentorship, and professional and personal development offered through our Power Women’s Initiative (PWI)

What’s Next?

While this is a major milestone for POWER, we’re far from satisfied. We see this benefit as something that will continue to evolve over time, so that we can keep positively impacting our people and fostering a stronger, more supportive community at POWER.

That’s why we’re #13 on the Fortune 2023 100 Best Company to Work For®, and named a Best Workplace for Parents by Great Place to Work®.

If you’re a woman or parent looking for a new career opportunity, check out POWER’s open roles across our 20 territories nationwide.

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