When to Use It
Backup child care providers can assist when your routine care arrangements are disrupted. For example:
- Your child’s school or child care center is closed
- Your regular caregiver is unavailable
- You are in between child care arrangements
- Your child is mildly ill
- You are traveling for MIT and your child accompanies you
- You need to attend class, study, or participate in an event related to being a student at MIT
Eligibility
Benefits-eligible MIT staff, faculty, and postdocs (associates and fellows), can use up to 15 days of backup care (combined child and adult/elder care) per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).
Eligible MIT graduate students can use up to 15 days of backup child care per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30), or by their date of graduation, whichever comes first.
Care recipients may include infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children, and teens. For center care, age limits vary by location.
Backup care days are non-transferable and can only be used to book care for your own eligible dependents.
Enrollment in the backup care benefit is subject to a benefits verification process, and it may take up to two weeks after your start date for your eligibility to be verified in the system. The benefit is not accessible prior to the completion of this verification process, therefore, enrollment is not guaranteed during the first two weeks of your employment or graduate program.
In the meantime, if you need assistance locating temporary or ongoing child care options, you may contact MIT MyLife Services (for benefits-eligible staff, faculty, and postdocs) or MIT GAIN (for MIT graduate students).
Backup Care Options
Requests for backup child care must be work- or school-related, but care is available 24/7, anywhere in the U.S. You and your family have the following options:
- In-home care: Bright Horizons’ screened and trained caregivers are available to provide care 24-hours per day, seven days per week.
- In-center care: Bright Horizons’ network of centers, including hundreds of accredited Bright Horizons child care centers—and backup care-only centers—provide care during business hours. Most centers can serve children from 6 weeks to 6 years of age, and some serve children through age 12.
Costs of Care
Staff, faculty, and postdocs
- In-home care: $8 per hour (with a minimum of 4 hours per day and maximum of 10 hours per day)
- In-center care: $15 per day for one child and $25 per day for two or more children (no minimum or maximum number of hours per day)
Graduate students
The Graduate Student Backup Child Care program is sponsored by the Office of Graduate Education and administered by MIT HR Work-Life.
- In-home care: $5 per hour (with a minimum of 4 hours per day and maximum of 10 hours per day).
- In-center care: $10 per day for one child and $20 per day for two or more children (no minimum or maximum number of hours per day).
If Bright Horizons is unable to fill your backup child care request, you may source a caregiver from your personal network and receive reimbursement up to $100 per day. You are responsible for hiring, vetting, and negotiating rates.
Out of Network Reimbursement Care (OONRC) is available only in the event that Bright Horizons is unable to fill your request for In-Home or In-Center Backup Child Care.
FAQs
When can I register for the Bright Horizons Backup Care benefit?
You will have access to register for the benefit beginning on July 1, 2025, at 12 AM EST. You will not be able to register before that time. You may continue to use Care.com for backup child care through June 30, 2025.
Can I reserve backup care for July 1, 2025?
I am already registered for backup care through Care.com. Do I need to register for backup care through Bright Horizons?
Yes, you must register for Bright Horizons Backup Care before you can make a reservation and use the backup care services.
If I do not use all 15 days of my backup care allotment by June 30, 2025, will any unused days rollover to the next fiscal year?
No, any unused days will be forfeited. On July 1, 2025, you will have an allotment of 15 days of backup care.
Can I select one of the MIT Technology Childcare Centers (TCC) as a backup care center?
No, the MIT Technology Childcare Centers on campus and at Lincoln Laboratory are not participating backup child care centers.
Can I find my own child care center or in-home provider to use for backup care?
You are required to use child care centers and in-home providers that are contracted with Bright Horizons Backup Care.
Have Questions or Need Help?
You can reach out to MIT HR Work-Life at (617) 253-1592 or worklife@mit.edu.