Tax-advantaged care for employers

A smarter way to offer child care

Plan design · Enrollment · Reimbursements · Compliance
We design the program · You keep the tax advantage

We help employers design and implement tax-advantaged child care and preschool support programs that deliver enormous benefits at low net cost.

Get in touchSee how it works
What this is (and isn't)

The benefit that best retains working parents is now also among the cheapest to fund

New tax credits can return most of what an employer spends on child care. Virtually no one knows it.

Since January 2026, companies that help pay for employees' licensed child care get 40% of that money back from the federal government, and 50% if they're a smaller business. Many states, including New York, add their own credit on top. Combined, a New York-based employer often gets 70% or more back.

Don't take our word for it. The IRS explains the federal credit on its own page, the Bipartisan Policy Center has a plain-English guide, and New York's credit is on the state's site.

$50,000 → $15,000
Say a New York company puts $50,000 a year toward its employees' daycare and preschool bills. After the credits, the real cost to the company can be $15,000 or less. Employees get the full $50,000 of help. Per dollar of net cost, almost nothing else in a benefits package delivers this much.
Illustrative. Not tax advice. Figures depend on each employer's situation.

Not a dependent care FSA

A DCFSA lets employees spend some of their own money on care tax-free. Nice to have; it barely moves the total cost of care. This goes much further.

Not free nanny care

Daycare centers, preschools, and licensed home-based programs qualify. Nannies, informal babysitting, and K-12 tuition generally don't.

Not front-line only; not a C-suite perk

Support must be broadly available to get the credits. No income restrictions; senior leaders can benefit on similar terms to everyone else.

Not legal or tax advice

Outside tax counsel has reviewed our general program design (summary on request). We work alongside your advisors; they own the calculations and sign-offs.

What we do

Four steps, and the hard parts are ours

We guide employers through the full process of setting up child care benefits, from initial assessment to ongoing compliance.

01

Opportunity assessment

We look at your company's structure, workforce, and goals to figure out whether a tax-advantaged employer-provided child care program makes sense, and what it could look like in practice.

02

Program design

We help design a child care benefit program built around your specific situation. The right providers and contractual structure for your workforce. No one-size-fits-all templates.

03

Compliance & documentation

Child care benefit programs involve substantial regulatory and compliance requirements. We advise on the paperwork, coordinate with your team, and make sure everything is airtight before a dollar moves.

04

Ongoing support

Regulations change. Your workforce changes. We stay engaged to keep your program running smoothly and compliant year over year, so you're not stuck figuring it out alone.

Who we are

Founded by Jake Arluck

Jake Arluck

Jake is a lifelong New Yorker and devoted dad who took a hard look at how employer child care benefits actually work during his years at McKinsey and Google. Even at companies known for generous benefits, the standard toolkit is surprisingly limited: a dependent care FSA, maybe a stipend. For families spending five or six figures a year on quality care, there's a wide gap between what employers want to offer and what the existing programs let them do.

Most companies want to help their people but don't know where to start, or assume it's too complicated and expensive to be worth it. We know New York, the employers, the providers, and the regulatory landscape, and we help companies put together child care programs that actually work, for the business and for the families who depend on them.

Based in New York. Father of two. Unreasonably optimistic about fixing child care.

Get in touch

Tell us about your team

Interested in learning what child care benefits could do for your company? We'd like to hear from you.

Book a 30-minute call

Grab a time that works, straight on the calendar. No prep needed; tell us a bit about yourself when you book.

Prefer email?

jake@careassembly.com
We typically respond within one business day.

Prefer the phone?

(917) 409-6389
Leave a message if we miss you and we'll get back to you the same day.

Thanks for reaching out. We'll be in touch soon.