Kelly J. Andrews in Entrepreneurial Edge reports on the growth of the infant $500 million industry that took off by morphing from the child care model to a Life Balance model and convincing employers "what's good for employees is good for business."

"Forty years ago only about 17 percent of women with young children worked outside of the home." Today, "that number is approaching 85 percent. Over the next 10 years, 60% of the workers added to the work force will be females." Women in the workforce constantly face the dilemma of balancing work and family and often feel torn trying to meet their obligations with no corporate support.

Given the fact that many of these women rise to middle management, and some to top management, companies are beginning to recognize the size of the investment they have in management training and consequently the financial stake they have in employee retention. This line of thinking, encouraged by the work/life industry, makes creating a more people friendly and effective workplace a good bottom line decision.

In an effort to focus on employee's issues, the work/life industry has expanded it's approach from the child-care/elder-care model to a broadened scope which may include human resources and employee assistance programs (EAPs) and strives to meet the needs of a broader range of employees, whether or not they have children or dependents or need help with career decisions or money issues.

Once restricted to Fortune 1000 companies with more resources, as the work/life industry matures and develops an established infrastructure, it is able to approach businesses with as few as 100 employees. This trend is sure to grow.