Work-Life and Family Resources

MIT HR Work-Life

MIT HR Work-Life offers a range of programs and services to help manage school, work, life, and family responsibilities while at MIT. The Work-Life team provides support and helps postdoctoral scholars, staff, and faculty (and their adult household members) meet their personal and professional needs in all phases of life. For more information, please call MyLife Services at 844-405-5433 or request a return call. If you are visiting the MyLife Services website for the first time you will need to create an account using company code mymit.

Work-Life Webinar Series

MIT HR Work-Life offers research-based webinars throughout the year on topics related to parenting children of all ages, personal and financial well-being, navigating work and life as a young professional, and senior care.

Office of Graduate Education—Support for Graduate Students with Children

The Office of Graduate Education provides programming and resources specific to graduate students with children, including a website, monthly newletter, and administrator dedicated to supporting this community.

Backup Child Care for Students

MIT offers a program of subsidized backup child care for MIT graduate students as part of our support for student families. This program is sponsored by the Office of Graduate Education and administered by MIT HR Work-Life.

Subsidized backup child care is available through Care.com at a cost of $5.00 per hour for in-home care and $10.00 per day, per child for in-center care. MIT graduate students can request up to 15 days of backup child care per fiscal year (July 1–June 30 or date of graduation, whichever comes first). Unused days of care will not carry forward into the new academic year.

Backup child care providers or in-center care can assist when normal child care or school arrangements are disrupted by school closings, vacations, provider illness, or when a child is mildly ill. Backup care can also help cover child care needs at times when care is not normally available, for example, to allow students to attend MIT events, student government meetings or conferences, or to study for exams.

Registration is required.

Technology Childcare Centers

MIT’s child care system, Technology Childcare Centers (TCC), includes four locations—three centers on campus and one near MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington—that accommodate infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Each TCC child care center is a dynamic and nurturing multicultural environment where children participate in adventures that promote invention and discovery. TCC is managed by Bright Horizons Family Solutions in partnership with MIT HR Work-Life.

For more information and to apply, visit the Technology Childcare Centers website.

Lactation Support

MIT is dedicated to meeting the needs of nursing mothers. MIT HR Work-Life spearheads efforts to create lactation rooms across campus (there are currently ~30 rooms) and has put together helpful breastfeeding tips and resources online.

Resources and Referrals for Graduate Students

Personalized assistance, resources, and referrals on a broad range of issues are available at no cost to MIT graduate students (and their partners and families) through MIT GAIN—the Graduate Assistance and Information Network. MIT GAIN services include:

  • Legal consultation
  • Financial consultation
  • Child care resources and personalized research and referrals
  • Elder care resources and personalized research and referrals
  • Relocation guidance
  • School/summer camp selection for children in grades K–12
  • Nutrition counseling
  • Career assessment
  • Resources for other life concerns, such as moving services, home repair and cleaning services, pet care, fitness programs and trainers, and more.

Personalized assistance, resources, and referrals are available via phone or email, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for graduate students and their household members.