Helping kids stay in school
Chronic absenteeism is on the rise.1 See how Whirlpool helps end the dropout cycle by giving kids access to clean clothes through the Care Counts™ Laundry Program.
Dirty clothes lead kids to drop out
Every day, thousands of kids miss school because they don’t have clean clothes to wear—and elementary students who are frequently absent risk falling behind.
1 in 5
1 in 5 students don’t have access to clean clothes,2 making them more likely to miss school.
7x
Kids who miss school are 7x more likely to drop out.3
Whirlpool is helping keep more kids in class by installing washers and dryers in schools
In collaboration with Teach For America, Whirlpool has been donating washers, dryers and laundry supplies to schools since 2015.
By 2028, Whirlpool is committed to expanding the Care Counts™ Laundry Program to all 50 states and doubling the number of participating schools.
Frequently asked questions
The Care Counts™ Laundry Program is committed to helping create educational equality by installing washers and dryers in schools to help remove one small but important barrier to attendance—access to clean clothes.
In every participating school, principals help identify a trusted teacher, administrator or parent liaison to act as a Program Leader. The Program Leader helps identify students to participate in the program and anonymously tracks their loads of laundry, attendance and grades throughout the school year. Knowing that every school is different, the process of laundering student clothes varies by school. For example, many Program Leaders ask parents to sign up for time slots, so they can come in to do laundry when it is most convenient for their schedule.
Whirlpool worked with school teachers, administrators and Dr. Richard Rende, Ph.D, an internationally recognized developmental psychologist and researcher, to draw research-based connections between access to clean clothes and attendance rates by creating the Care Counts™ Laundry Program.
1. National Center for Education Statistics, May 2022. Data were collected from a total of 846 participating schools between May 10 and May 24, 2022.
2. Based on a survey conducted by phone within the United States by Braun Research from April 25–May 8, 2019 among 600 public school teachers (18 years or older).
3. Based on Department of Education Report "Chronic Absenteeism in the Nation's Schools," updated 2019. https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html
