Employee benefits for childcare centers,made easy.
80% of U.S. childcare centers have fewer than 20 employees.
You want great benefits for your team. You don’t have the time or the resources to get them.
That isn’t on you. For decades, the benefits industry has been built for big companies, and small businesses have been left to figure it out alone. Cakewalk was built for you.
How it works
You run your business. We handle the benefits.
Tell us about your business.
Start with your business name. We fill in what we can find. Connect payroll and your team comes with it.
Hundreds of options. One tailored package.
We compare hundreds of plans for your team. You get one package, priced and ready to adjust.
We get your team covered.
We invite your team. You see who has started. Each person gets help choosing. Everyone is covered.
Benefits admin. Off your plate.
New hires and departures sync from payroll. Each employee gets a benefits wallet. Their questions come to us, not you.
Your benefits team. On the house.
You pay for coverage. Insurance carriers pay us a commission, so we can handle everything from building your package to supporting your team year round, at no cost to you.
Childcare at a glance
Offering benefits at a childcare center
Tight budgets, modest wages, and staff who are hard to replace. Here’s what shapes a benefits plan for a childcare center.
- of U.S. childcare centers have fewer than 20 employees
- 80%
- openings a year projected for childcare workers, all from replacing people who leave
- 150,300
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: childcare workers
- median hourly pay for childcare workers in child daycare services
- $16.43
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: childcare workers
Every opening is a replacement
All projected openings for childcare workers through 2035 come from replacing people who leave. Keeping teachers is the whole game.
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: childcare workers
Care for your staff’s own children
Under a written dependent care assistance program, care you provide or pay for can be tax-free for employees, up to $7,500 in 2026. Rules for highly paid employees apply.
Source: IRS Publication 15-B (2026)
The small business tax credit
Centers with fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees and modest average wages may qualify for the small business health care tax credit, up to 50% of premiums (35% for tax-exempt centers) for two years, if you pay at least half of premiums through a SHOP plan. It shrinks above 10 FTEs and as average wages rise.
Sources: IRS Form 8941 instructions; IRS: small business health care tax credit and SHOP
The 30-hour line
Federal rules treat an employee who averages 30 or more hours a week as full time. A plan bought through the SHOP marketplace has to be offered to every full-time employee, but not to part-time staff.
Sources: IRS: identifying full-time employees; HealthCare.gov: who qualifies for SHOP
Benefits are your choice under 50
Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, aren’t subject to the federal requirement to offer coverage. Offering benefits is a decision you make for your team, not a mandate.
Source: IRS: applicable large employers
Setting contributions
With wages where they are, how much you contribute matters as much as which plan you pick. We start from your budget and build around it.
The whole benefits package.
Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and income protection. Built around your business and the people who power it.
Start with your team’s needs and your business’s budget. Explore medical coverage online, or work with a benefits advisor to understand your options and choose your next step.
Questions center owners ask.
There can be. The federal small business health care tax credit is for employers with fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees and average wages under $68,200 (2026) who pay at least half of employee-only premiums, but it requires a SHOP marketplace plan, and those aren’t available in every state. Owners and their families don’t count toward the limits.
Tell us about your center.
We’ll follow up to learn about your business and walk you through your options. There’s no cost to work with us.
Prefer to start on your own?