Family-Friendly Spaces 2024 Expands Support for Workers

2024 marks the 9th summer of the Family-Friendly Spaces (FFS) Program. This year, 55 Family-Friendly Spaces were opened to over 2,000 children. For the first time, the program expanded into local communities, adding 4 new community childcare spaces. We’ve partnered with village committees, women’s federations and industrial parks to launch our summer program to the community childcare spaces. The FFS program is no longer limited to employees and their children in factories, but benefits a wider range of work groups, such as service industry workers, self-employed people, etc., in order to serve more of the community and reach more parents and children. This year, the 51 factory-based spaces benefitted 1,802 children and 1,852 families, the 4 community-based childcare centers enrolled a total of 205 children and 195 families benefited.

‍
Impacts from 2016 to 2024

‍
Since the launch of Family-Friendly Spaces at two factories in 2016, we have opened 74 Family-Friendly Spaces accommodated with nearly 10,000 children enrolled, supporting around 8,000 workers.

‍
Worker Impacts:
• 93% of workers cite the program as a reason to continue working at the factory
• 98% of workers said workers said their child had a safe place to go in the summer
• 81% of workers say they have a closer relationship with their children

‍
Factory Impacts:
• 98% of managers said the program improves workers satisfaction
• 87% of managers said the program helps to attract workers
• 81% of managers said the program helps to reduce turnover rate

‍
The Family-Friendly Spaces program offers secure and well-equipped environments in factories and communities where children can learn and play while their parents work. This allows supply chain workers to focus on their jobs with peace of mind. The program aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 3, 4, 5, 10, and 17.  For factories, the program has led to improved worker retention, reduced training costs, and has positioned them as the employer of choice within their communities.

‍
Inspiration Behind the T-shirt Design

‍

 
This year’s T-shirt design has special significance, inspired by a drawing created by one of last year’s Family-Friendly Spaces participants, Chen Yuqing, just 4 years old. Last year, as part of one of the summer spaces activities, she submitted one of her drawings in our art competition. This year, our design team transformed her artwork into a heart-shaped cartoon character, becoming the logo for this year's Family-Friendly Spaces program. This design has been printed on T-shirts and sent to teachers, project leaders and participating children.

‍
We would like to extend thanks to GDTEX and Futuretex, certified by the Ethical Supply Chain Program, for their generous sponsorship of the FFS t-shirts this year. They have provided over 2,000 t-shirts to the teachers, program leaders and children.

‍
A Variety of Activities
 

Throughout the summer, children took part in a wide range of activities, including parent-child games, arts and crafts, building blocks, cultural visits, and outdoor adventures. These activities not only enhanced their creativity and teamwork skills but also allowed them to learn new things in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. The parent-child activities provide invaluable bonding time for working families and help strengthen family relationships.

‍
The program's sponsors have donated a wide range of toys and interactive games, enabling the children to play with each other and filling the spaces with joy and laughter. We are grateful for the generous support from Mattel, Hape, Hallmark, LEGO®, GDTEX & Futuretex, Macy's, TÜV Rheinland, Moose Toys, Sainsbury's, Crayola, Superdry, Disney, DK, the Marketing Store, and Spin Master.

‍
Family-Friendly Spaces Story: A Family's Experience

This family has three daughters, aged 12, 10, and 4 and a half. The older daughters have spent several summers participating in the FFS program, but for the youngest, this was her first time attending. Influenced by traditional gender roles, the parents mostly bought dolls for them, so they rarely played with building bricks. The eldest daughter mentioned that seeing so many different types of LEGO bricks at FFS was a new experience. This year, they played a group game where they had to reconstruct structures from memory, which made learning fun and helped them improve teamwork and communication skills.

‍
Their mother highlighted a parent-child activity that they played a Build and Talk game with the bricks. It was her first time playing with bricks alongside her daughters, and she was surprised by their educational value. Watching her daughters learn and have fun brought her great satisfaction. These building blocks not only created enjoyable family moments but also sparked learning and growth.
‍

Looking Ahead

‍
The FFS program has benefited thousands of supply chain workers' families, providing children safe and happy summer holidays, and making a long-term positive impact on factories and communities. Looking ahead, we are committed to expanding our efforts to support even more families. By the end of 2025, we aim to open 100 Family-Friendly Spaces to support 30,000 children. Together, we better lives for workers, families and businesses globally.