On July 18th, Tyson Foods opened the Tyson Learning Center, providing affordable child-care for employees of the Humboldt, TN. plant.  The facility to be operated by KinderCare, represents a $5 million investment and will provide services for 100 children under five years of age. Tyson Foods will obviously subsidize the operation to provide a low-cost child-care benefit for workers.

Johanna Soderstrom, Executive Vice-president at Tyson Foods stated, “I am proud of our Company’s approach to make high-quality child-care accessible and affordable for our team members.  We recognize child care services can be a barrier to enter the workforce, that is why we have worked on the solution to provide child-care options that support our team members.”

Child-care ranks second after health insurance as a significant benefit and a factor to retain employees since the average annual cost of child-care can exceed $10,000.  This burden is especially heavy on low income and single-parent households that have to assign up to one-third of gross income for care.  In the absence of affordable childcare, single mothers frequently rely on government support and do not participate in the workforce.  Clearly children placed in a suitable facility with trained staff will benefit from stimulation and enrichment ensuring success in subsequent K-12 education.

Tyson Foods recently received the Best Place for Working Parent Innovator Award. This  recognizes the financial commitment and contribution of the Company to supporting working families and the benefit to their children.

Although child-care is not regarded as a usual benefit for employees in egg packing plants, it is possible, depending on location to partner with other employers and fund a child-care center that stabilizes the workforce and integrates children of immigrant families into communities.