About Stephen Kramer
Stephen Kramer, CEO of Bright Horizons, has stated that a lack of affordable, high-quality childcare is holding back the U.S. economy by preventing working parents from fully participating in the workforce. He has argued that the primary driver of childcare costs is the expense of attracting, retaining, and training high-quality teachers, which he described as the largest component of any childcare organization's cost structure. Kramer has advocated for a multi-pronged approach to address the issue, including direct government subsidies, tax incentives for families and employers, and increased investment from employers. He noted that Bright Horizons partners with 1,400 employer clients to provide on-site subsidized childcare and backup care, describing this employer support as a "critical support" for working families.
Kramer has said that working parents are becoming more vocal about prioritizing work-life balance and are willing to leave roles if their needs are not met. He identified the top requests from employees as access to affordable childcare, financial subsidies, and backup care for when regular arrangements break down. Kramer has also commented on the expiration of pandemic-era childcare stabilization grants, stating that while Bright Horizons managed its business in anticipation of the funding ending, many community-based providers may face significant challenges, potentially needing to raise tuition by 10-15%. He has described childcare as an "essential service" that allows parents to work and is foundational for the future workforce.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Stephen Kramer's recent appearances.
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Transcript (8 segments)
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Host0:00
Well, the government is facing a renewed push for child care funding. Senators including Tina Smith from Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts are urging Congressional leaders for a new funding package after the child care stabilization grant, which was passed in 2021, expired at the end of September. Aside from climbing expenses, the childcare industry is also facing an influx of closures over lack of funding, shedding jobs from the economy and leaving parents without access to care arrangements. For more on the state of childcare, we're joined by Stephen Kramer, Bright Horizons CEO. And Stephen, I will start by saying that this is something Rielle and I are very familiar with, having to look for child care. Let's start with the implications of that funding expiring in September. We heard a lot of the doom and gloom scenarios. How has that affected Bright Horizons?
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Stephen Kramer0:49
We always had known that this ARPA funding was going to sunset, and so we really managed our business with that understanding. And I think the secret sauce behind Bright Horizons has always been the support that we garner from our employer clients. So unlike community-based providers who are responsible for having parents pay the entire freight of child care in their tuitions, we've always had this third-party support through employers. So again, it's been a critical support over 35 years, and in the face of the ARPA funding sunsetting, this continues to be an important source of support and subsidy for working families.
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Host1:33
And Stephen, since that sunsetting, have more employers been approaching you to try to offset some of these costs for their employees, or are they still trying to figure it out when they think of other sorts of labor costs and other perks that they have to pay?
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Stephen Kramer1:46
Yeah, I mean, we're certainly seeing a renaissance in interest around child care and specifically employer-supported child care. I think that employers recognize, and they're hearing it directly from their employees, that they are struggling with access, with affordability, and the quality of child care in the general community. And so employers are really trying to figure out ways that they can invest. And obviously Bright Horizons is in the middle of those conversations given the long history we have in supporting employers as they support employees in this important area.
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Host2:21
Stephen, that's certainly interesting to hear about the knock-on effects. I mean, employers increasingly interested in teaming up with a company like Bright Horizons because they're losing employees because they can't find child care. As you look at that partnership that you've got in place with employers, how big of a revenue driver is that going to be, or how much bigger of a pie is it going to take up when you look at the overall revenue picture for the company?
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Stephen Kramer2:46
Yeah, it's an interesting question. So when we think about the employer support that is garnered, first and foremost, our employer partners are critical in providing the capital and the space to build out high-quality childcare centers that we ultimately manage. And through that direct support, we're able to provide ongoing support to their employees in terms of great access as well as affordability to high-quality child care. In addition to that, they offer other services through Bright Horizons including backup child care. Right, so when there is a breakdown in care arrangements for an employee with a child or even an aging elder, employers have the ability to support that employee to get care arrangements through Bright Horizons. We saw tremendous growth over the last several years in that line of our service, and that continues to be an area, in addition to on-site childcare centers, that employers are interested in supporting.
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Host3:46
Certainly welcome news for a lot of people. Nothing worse than waking up, your child is sick, or you get that phone call from the school and you have no sort of backup care. Everything throws everything out of whack. Appreciate you joining us this morning, Stephen Kramer, Bright Horizons CEO. Thank you so much.
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Stephen Kramer4:00
Thank you very much.
