[untog]

Not every problem is startup shaped.

> think a benefits platform that allows companies to offer daycare as a benefit

Companies could offer daycare as a benefit today if they wanted to. It isn't their benefits platform holding them back.

In fairness, I can see why companies don't offer daycare as a benefit: it's enormously expensive (particularly in major metros) and it would be very difficult to plan what % of your employees would be utilising it at any one time.

Other countries have solved this problem by making it everyone's problem: the government subsidises it. I won't hold my breath waiting for the US to do the same.

[ng7j5d9]

And according to one company, daycare as a benefit pays for itself by reducing turnover ... although Patagonia really stands out by offering such a benefit in the current environment. If such a benefit became the norm maybe people would go back to hopping between jobs at something close to the previous rate.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3062792/patagonias-ceo-explains-...

[brlewis]

It doesn't fit the HN definition of startup, but here's a small, growing company doing just that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_Horizons

[untog]

Oh, I've used them! I just really don't think they're a startup by any definition. Founded in 1986, 30,000 employees, 1,000 locations.

And they aren't offering a benefit platform, they're running actual daycare locations. Their connection to employers is also most commonly providing "backup care", not solid day-to-day daycare. Nothing to sniff at of course, but that alone will not solve the problem for working parents.