How Far Can Biden Go in Expanding Child Care?
No one doubts the need for more available and affordable options for working parents, but not everyone likes government mandates.
The chips industry today, the rest of the economy tomorrow.
Photographer: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images North AmericaChild care is not a topic that tends to come up on quarterly earnings calls. By and large, however, corporate America knows that it has to offer quality and affordable child care to employees to recruit and retain a competitive and diverse labor force.
But there is a difference between knowing something and doing something about it. Sometimes the private sector needs a nudge from the federal government, which helps explain President Joe Biden’s intervention in the semiconductor industry: The administration announced last month that if semiconductor manufacturers wanted a slice of $40 billion in new subsidies under last year’s Chips Act, they would have to provide access to child care.