Universities are increasingly recognizing that supporting academic families is a recruiting and retention strategy. More institutions are investing in programs that help faculty, postdocs, and graduate students manage the costs of family life. Below, we highlight supportive policies and programs organized by stage, from fertility support and parental leave to assistance for researchers traveling with young children. Here are some policies to look for when evaluating prospective employers, as well as policies you may wish to advocate for at your own institution.

1. Building a family

The path to parenthood, whether through childbirth, adoption, or fertility treatment, is costly. Most universities have been slow to recognize the significant costs associated with building and raising a family. However, a growing number of institutions are beginning to implement policies to help offset some of these expenses. For example, Stanford University reimburses up to $10,000 for qualified adoption expenses, while the University of California, Berkeley covers up to $5,000 per child. The University of Arizona offers $2,500 toward either adoption or fertility expenses. These reimbursements, while not covering all expenses, demonstrate a growing institutional commitment to supporting academic families.

WHAT TO ASK FOR: Fertility or adoption reimbursement.

2. Leave and returning to work

Six weeks of paid parental leave and a one-year tenure clock extension have become common benchmarks, offered by institutions including the University of Washington, the University of Georgia, the University of Oklahoma, and The Ohio State University. However, some universities have implemented even more comprehensive family-supportive policies. Notably, the University of Dayton adds an additional 6–8 weeks of parental leave for birth mothers on top of its standard parental leave. The University of California, Berkeley offers 8 weeks of paid leave, a reduction in duties for up to two semesters, and a one-year tenure clock extension. The University of Maryland provides 12 weeks of paid leave. They also have an institutional Modified Duty Family Support Plan, which allows faculty to request reduced responsibilities without having to negotiate individually with their department chair.

Equally important is the transition back to work after leave. A study of Big Ten medical schools found that 11 of 13 offered flexible return-to-work policies, such as condensed workweeks, flexible hours, and remote work options.¹ Having these policies in place matters greatly for equitable implementation across departments.

And once you are back on the job? Lactation support is another critical but often overlooked component of family-friendly workplace policies. Luckily, universities are moving beyond minimal accommodations. Johns Hopkins University gives access to certified lactation consultants, vending machines stocked with lactation supplies, and hospital-grade pumps in dedicated rooms. Purdue University has committed to putting lactation rooms into every new or renovated building, a design standard, not an afterthought. The University of California system has set a high bar, too, by creating breakroom-style lactation spaces equipped with comfortable furniture, kitchen amenities, and hospital-grade pumps.

WHAT TO ASK FOR: Written policies clearly outlining the duration of parental leave, options for return-to-work modified duties, whether flexible return-to-work arrangements are formalized or left to negotiation, whether tenure clock extensions are automatic or require paperwork, lactation rooms with hospital-grade equipment, and accessibility to certified lactation consultants.

3. Everyday and emergency childcare

Ongoing childcare costs place significant financial pressure on academic families. Childcare subsidies vary widely across institutions, and well-endowed private universities offer the most generous programs. For example, Harvard University’s ACCESS Program offers priority enrollment in on-campus care plus portable scholarships of $4,000–$24,000 annually for tenured and tenure-track faculty. Stanford University’s Child Care Subsidy Grant offers up to $10,000 per year. Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and Yale University all offer tiered salary-dependent annual subsidies ranging from $1,500 to $6,500. At public universities, robust childcare subsidies are less common, but some institutions have implemented meaningful support programs. The University of Michigan offers $4,516–$8,730 based on family size and financial need. Many public institutions have also received federal CCAMPIS grants, which support childcare access primarily for students and lower-income parents.

One of the most disruptive childcare situations is when a child is too sick for daycare, but a parent has classes or lab obligations, leaving many families scrambling. Some institutes now offer backup care: a contingency plan when your regular caregiving arrangements lapse, including center-based care, in-home care, or even reimbursements for alternative care. Washington University in St. Louis has emerged as a leader in this area, offering 20 fully subsidized backup care days per year for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students. The University of Michigan offers 15 subsidized backup days, while Stanford University offers 10. Both the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Arizona offer up to 80 hours of university-subsidized backup care annually. Backup care programs are relatively cheap to implement and immediately impactful, an important consideration when advocating for family-supportive policies at your own institution.

WHAT TO ASK FOR: Are childcare subsidies portable or tied to on-campus facilities, what the income cap is, the annual subsidy amount, and whether backup emergency care days exist and are available to postdocs and grad students, not just faculty.

4. Traveling to Conferences

Conferences are essential for your career, but for parents of young children, they also come with the cost of additional childcare. However, for parents of young children, conference travel often entails significant additional childcare costs. For example, Stanford University reimburses up to $1,000 per trip for dependent care during professional travel. Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have similar programs, each providing up to $1,000 annually in travel-related caregiving support. These programs are relatively easy to implement, and they send a clear message: we want you to stay engaged in your field, even if you have caregiving responsibilities. Beyond home institutional support, many individual conferences will also offer childcare grants. For instance, if you are planning on attending ASCB’s annual conference, Cell Bio, this year, the ASCB familycare grant application opens on August 1, 2026.

WHAT TO ASK FOR: Whether your institution’s travel reimbursement policies include dependent care, whether professional development funds can be used for caregiving support, and whether your department chair or grants office has discretionary funds that could cover costs while formal policies are being developed.

5. Graduate students and postdocs

Childcare support for graduate students and postdocs remains far less consistent than for faculty, but some institutions are setting a higher standard. For example. Boston University, Duke University, Northwestern University, and Brown University offer childcare subsidies for graduate students ranging from $3,500 to $10,000 annually. Harvard University’s graduate student union contract established an $830,000 annual fund to subsidize childcare costs, offering up to $3,500 per semester without requiring receipts, or higher reimbursements of $1,875 to $7,500 annually, depending on the child’s age. Washington University in St. Louis stands out for explicitly including postdocs and graduate students in its backup care program, a simple policy that can have a substantial impact on trainees who are juggling caregiving and academic responsibilities.

WHAT TO ASK FOR: Whether childcare subsidies extend to postdocs and graduate students, or only to faculty, whether your graduate student union has negotiated childcare provisions, and whether backup care days are available to trainees as well as faculty.

One more thing

The University of Bern offers a particularly innovative program. Their ‘120% program’ allows an assistant professor or postdoc parent to reduce to 60% of full-time, so they work three days a week for up to one year. A Care Grant funds temporary technical assistance at 60% effort to supplement their workload, with matching funds from the Institute. The result is a job-share arrangement with a combined output of 120%, and a scientist who stays in the pipeline rather than stepping out of it.

This model serves as an important reminder that institutional creativity can go well beyond subsidies and leave policies. It requires someone at your institution to decide that keeping scientists in science is worth the effort to figure it out. We hope some of these examples give you something to point to when you make that case. Good luck.

All information sourced from respective university websites.

1. Wagner et al. “Flexibility in Faculty Work-Life Policies at Medical Schools in the Big Ten Conference: A Ten-Year Follow-up Study” Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2022 Jan 31;3(1):67–77. doi: 10.1089/whr.2021.0070