After a brief historical overview of child care provision and a characterization of current interest in employer support for day care services, this paper describes pressures on employers to support child care, delineates a rationale for employer support, and identifies employer options for supporting parents' needs for services, information, financial assistance, and discretionary time. Subsequent examination is directed toward strategies for expanding child care through employer involvement as well as toward obstacles to employer-supported care. The consequences of early childhood educators' reluctance to acknowledge that they serve parents' needs as well as children's are discussed, and erroneous assumptions and dangers of corporate child care consultants who focus exclusively on on-site care centers are pointed out. Reasons are offered for anticipating continuing growth of employer-supported child care in the future and, in conclusion, the issue of the potentially negative consequences of employer involvement is addressed. Throughout the paper the thesis is advanced that, to solve problems of child care provision, the contributions of both early childhood educators and corporate managers must be fashioned by parent needs and preferences. (RH)