Women in senior-level roles drive better business outcomes—and it comes down to innovation, according to a research report. 

“What this means for C-level hiring practices is that simply hiring a female executive is not enough to reap the benefits of such an appointment,” Corinne Post, now a professor of management at Villanova School of Business, and co-author of a report on the effect of women in the C-suite, told me this past spring. “It’s crucial to include and rapidly integrate this person into the executive team.”

But for working mothers in leadership positions or who have C-suite aspirations, childcare issues can be a hurdle to advancement if a company is not flexible. This situation has worsened during COVID as many schools and daycare providers closed for extended periods. In her latest piece, Is ‘Big Day Care’ the solution to America’s childcare woes—or is it risky to mix profits and toddlers?, my colleague Maria Aspan discusses the effects of more than 2 million women leaving the paid labor force and the state of childcare.

Maria writes: “Today, the crumbling of the nation’s childcare infrastructure—a crisis that has been exacerbated, though not created, by the pandemic—has become an accepted fact, recognized by Fortune 500 employers and top policymakers as well as the parents, caretakers, and childcare providers caught in the destruction. Childcare is at the center of the larger caretaking crisis that has disproportionately hurt women, who still shoulder the vast majority of unpaid labor in U.S. households, and that created what the White House has declared to be a “national emergency” in women’s employment.”

In attempts to rectify the crisis, will only a small group of big businesses dominate the market? “Call them Big Day Care, or perhaps more accurately, Big Childcare: KinderCare, Learning Care Group, and Bright Horizons are the largest players in the $47.2 billion childcare market, which is dominated by center-based care,” Maria writes. 

And the reviews about these companies are mixed. “These companies have both critics and fans among the parents, childcare workers, smaller childcare providers, industry executives, senior government officials, Fortune 500 human resources executives, and policy experts interviewed for this article,” she writes. 

As the childcare crisis affects employees, their families, and the companies they work for, you can read all about how the situation may play out in the foreseeable future in Maria’s piece.

See you tomorrow.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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Big deal

The S&P 500 index second-quarter growth rate is 88.37% compared to 72.75% a month ago, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, which released a report on August 23. Consumer discretionary growth trended up to 205.60% from 164.97% last month. 

Courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence

Going deeper

As many employers continue flexible work policies with some employees on-site, fully remote, or hybrid, digital divides in the U.S. persist. A report by Pew Research Center released on August 19 found rural adults are less likely to have internet access compared to suburban and urban adults. About three in 10 adults surveyed residing in rural communities said they have a home broadband connection, a desktop or laptop computer, and a smartphone, compared to 44% of urban and 43% of suburban adults, according to the report.

Leaderboard

Virginie Costa was named Global CFO at Wella Company, a beauty enterprise with brands including Wella Professionals, Clairol, and OPI. Costa brings more than 25 years of financial management experience. Most recently, she served as CFO at Godiva. Costa is a former chief financial and operations officer at Burberry Americas, and CFO and COO at Hermes in France and the Americas.

Russ Porter was named SVP of strategy, technology, and analytics and CFO at IMA (Institute of Management Accountants). Porter brings to IMA almost 30 years of experience in financial leadership roles at IBM, including VP of finance for global business services. At IMA, Porter succeeds Doreen Remmen, who served in the role for more than 12 years.

Justin Thacker was named CFO at Aristea Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immunology-focused drug development company. Thacker brings to Aristea over 25 years of financial experience. He previously served as VP of finance at Design Therapeutics, Inc., and VP of finance at Synthorx, Inc.

Overheard

“Things are still good, they’re just not frenzied anymore. Which, to be honest, frenzy in the housing market never really leads to good behavior.”

—Devyn Bachman, vice president of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, on the housing market cooling down, as told to Fortune.