By Sara Medina, Director, Education & Workforce
In today’s competitive labor market, organizations face the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent while addressing evolving workforce demands. The 2024 National Trends Report by Best Place for Working Parents® offers an in-depth look at how companies across the country are adapting to meet the needs of working parents.
The Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC) is the regional sponsor for the Best Place for Working Parents® Dallas, a local chapter of the national Best Place for Working Parents® initiative. Since 2021, more than 465 Dallas Region companies have been recognized for their family-friendly workplace benefits.
The new report highlights key trends shaping the relationship between employers and working parents from over 1,500 businesses that have earned the Best Place for Working Parents® designation.
Nationwide, child care benefits surge 
One of the key trends identified in the report is the increasing adoption of back-up child care across businesses of all sizes, indicating its effectiveness at reducing employee absenteeism and turnover. The report shows nearly 60% of small businesses now offer back-up child care, with even higher adoption rates among medium (83%) and large-sized businesses (82%).
However, while back-up child care is on the rise, more comprehensive child care solutions, such as on-site child care and financial assistance, remain less common.
As the 89th Texas Legislative Session continues, the DRC is advocating for state lawmakers to consider ways to encourage businesses to offer child care benefits, including financial assistance for working parents.
Small employers are closing the gap in benefits offerings with big business
The report reveals that while larger organizations generally have more resources to implement family-friendly policies, micro (1-24 employees) and small (25-200 employees) businesses are making significant strides and, in some areas, leading the way.
Notably, micro businesses have shown a substantial increase in child care benefits from 2022 to 2024, making advancements in on-site child care and parental leave relative to small and medium businesses. Small businesses also outperform medium-sized businesses (201-999 employees) in providing on-site child care.
Small businesses are also closing the health care benefits gap with larger organizations. There has been an increased adoption of the “trifecta” of health benefits—medical, dental, and vision—rising from 60% in 2022 to 72% in 2024 among micro businesses and from 69% in 2022 to 75% in 2024 among small businesses. This demonstrates increasing investments in comprehensive health benefits as a strategy to compete with larger companies in attracting and retaining employees.
North Texas businesses leading on parental leave policies
Dallas stood out in a regional breakdown of family-friendly policies implementation among Best Place for Working Parents® regions. With high implementation rates for policies like maternity leave (87%), paternity leave (81%), nursing benefits (96%), back up child care (68%), and remote work (96%), North Texas businesses are actively prioritizing family-friendly benefits to attract and retain talent.
Areas of opportunity for North Texas, when compared to other Best Place regions, include increased on-site child care, flexible work hours, and expanding health care coverage.
A Best Place for Working Parents® designation can help your company with talent acquisition
Business leaders can quickly determine whether their company qualifies for the Best Place for Working Parents® Dallas designation by completing a three-minute assessment. The assessment compares an applicant’s family-friendly benefits across 10 research-backed policies with companies of similar size and industry.
Click here to learn more and earn your Best Place for Working Parents® designation today.
If your company is interested in learning more about family-friendly policies or the Best Place for Working Parents® program, connect with me and join in on these trends.