RUSHDEN, England, July 10 --

- Employees with Benefit Miss 70% Fewer Work Days Due to Child Care Issues

A comprehensive study released today by The Consulting Practice at Bright
Horizons Family Solutions confirms the importance of employer-supported child
care for working families in the UK and Ireland. Among several compelling
findings, the study reports that over a quarter of survey respondents said that
they could not work without their workplace nursery and that employees with a
child care benefit miss 70% fewer work days due to child care issues

The Practice undertook a survey to measure the impact of employer-sponsored
child care on employees and heard from parents who use a nursery supported by
their employer at 33 organisations in the public and private sectors throughout
the UK and Ireland. The survey results provide clear evidence that high-quality,
reliable work-site child care is an important benefit employees depend on to be
productive and present at work.

The key findings demonstrating child care’s positive impact on
recruitment, retention, absenteeism and productivity include:

- 96% indicate that the presence of a nursery at their place of work was
important in their decision to join their company (40% say it was very
important) - More than 1 in 5 respondents have either turned down or declined to
pursue a new job option due to a lack of workplace child care with the other
employer - There was a 70% reduction in the number of work days missed due to
child care issues for those employees with access to a workplace nursery -
Workplace nursery users were 78% less likely to consider leaving their jobs due
to child care difficulties than the control group*

With the number of working parents in the UK at a 15-year high, the report is a
timely reminder of the key importance of child care support to help employees
balance work and family responsibilities. In return for child care benefits,
employees are rewarding their employers with their loyalty and commitment: My
workplace nursery is excellent and is one of the main reasons that I stay with
my employer. The opening hours are great for me and allow me to give 100% to my
job while my children are cared for.

To download the full report, visit www.brighthorizons.co.uk.

* Survey results were compared with those of a control group of employees from
a more general population of working parents in the UK and Ireland (nearly 2,500
respondents surveyed by the Practice over the last 8 years).

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions specialises in managing high-quality nurseries
that meet the needs of working families and provides work/life consulting
services to employers throughout the UK, Ireland and the US. Bright Horizons has
been operating in the UK and Ireland since 2000 and is now the largest nursery
provider in the UK. Bright Horizons has been named by the Financial Times and
Great Place to Work Institute as one of the top 50 Best Workplaces for the past
four years and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Ireland as well.
The organisation was founded in the US in 1986 and is the world’s leading
provider of employer-sponsored child care, serving more than 700 clients
worldwide, including more than 95 of the FORTUNE 500. www.brighthorizons.co.uk

SOURCE: Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC

Bridget Perry of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, +01933-415993,
bridget.perry@brighthorizons.com