Wow thanks for that graphic. Looks like our state, North Carolina, is looking like one of the worst states. My 8 year old just went back to school this week, at an independent school, with no afterschool. Pick up is at 2:15 which feels like the middle of the day. Every month it's different, every summer there is a new camp or not a camp, every week he may be sick, there is no consistency. So the default parent, myself, has to take part-time or freelance or whatever jobs will let me be able to be there for my kid with no backup care (unless my mother-in-law can take him so now I am forever reliant on my mother-in-law!).
And it's usually women doing unpaid care work, which affect so much, not least of which are things like our retirement savings or our own career/creative ambitions. It would be nice if the US could align work and school days. At least eventually they can stay home alone or help care for younger children.
Even in a pro-choice, blue state like my state of Connecticut, the cost of childcare is over the moon. The state passed a paid parental leave law and new parents can apply for a month of paid leave. This is good. But my daughter has a 4-year-old and a 4-month old, and child care costs when her maternity leave ends will run $26,000 a year. (She works for a company with a global reach and is lucky that they have generous benefits). I don’t know how people do this without family help because the government certainly doesn’t give a rats ass. In Europe, average child care subsidies add up to $14,000 a family. Here it’s $500. America does not care about families. Only gun owners, I guess.
It's true, we really need a federal response. I never liked Nixon, but I really hated him when I learned about how he vetoed federal childcare centers in 1971. From NYT's coverage 12/9/71: "WASHINGTON, Dec. 9—In a stinging message, President Nixon vetoed today a Congressionally initiated bill to establish a national system of comprehensive child development and day care.
The proposal, he said, was characterized by “fiscal irresponsibility, administrative unworkability and family‐weakening implications.”
The President said that he objected to committing, without wide national debate, “the vast moral authority of the national Government to the side of cornmunal approaches to childrearing over against the family centered approach.”
As someone who has experienced the joys of finding childcare in two other states before starting work in SC, I can say that the situation was similar elsewhere (Ohio and Indiana). Anecdotally the turnover once the kids are beyond 6 months old is terrible. The childcare is expensive and the poor souls working in [most] of the places we have used are not paid well, for sure!
Re: Nixon. Focus on Family and other far-right groups got to him. He listened to the crowd that wants to keep women in the kitchen and at home. The present non-system is much tougher on family than help. I mean, really. We had a country-wide system of day care during WWII because women were all working!!! Somehow western civilization survived.
All of this is forcing women into a corner and causing them to just forego having kids altogether. Gen Z is not digging marriage and family like previous generations. So now the right wing is crying about "population decline" and the "male loneliness epidemic" and the tragedy of young unmarried men not being able to get laid. Quite a turnaround from when they used to cry about pre-marital sex and teen pregnancies.
Love the shirts!!!!!
Aren't they so great?!
Wow thanks for that graphic. Looks like our state, North Carolina, is looking like one of the worst states. My 8 year old just went back to school this week, at an independent school, with no afterschool. Pick up is at 2:15 which feels like the middle of the day. Every month it's different, every summer there is a new camp or not a camp, every week he may be sick, there is no consistency. So the default parent, myself, has to take part-time or freelance or whatever jobs will let me be able to be there for my kid with no backup care (unless my mother-in-law can take him so now I am forever reliant on my mother-in-law!).
And it's usually women doing unpaid care work, which affect so much, not least of which are things like our retirement savings or our own career/creative ambitions. It would be nice if the US could align work and school days. At least eventually they can stay home alone or help care for younger children.
Even in a pro-choice, blue state like my state of Connecticut, the cost of childcare is over the moon. The state passed a paid parental leave law and new parents can apply for a month of paid leave. This is good. But my daughter has a 4-year-old and a 4-month old, and child care costs when her maternity leave ends will run $26,000 a year. (She works for a company with a global reach and is lucky that they have generous benefits). I don’t know how people do this without family help because the government certainly doesn’t give a rats ass. In Europe, average child care subsidies add up to $14,000 a family. Here it’s $500. America does not care about families. Only gun owners, I guess.
It's true, we really need a federal response. I never liked Nixon, but I really hated him when I learned about how he vetoed federal childcare centers in 1971. From NYT's coverage 12/9/71: "WASHINGTON, Dec. 9—In a stinging message, President Nixon vetoed today a Congressionally initiated bill to establish a national system of comprehensive child development and day care.
The proposal, he said, was characterized by “fiscal irresponsibility, administrative unworkability and family‐weakening implications.”
The President said that he objected to committing, without wide national debate, “the vast moral authority of the national Government to the side of cornmunal approaches to childrearing over against the family centered approach.”
Family centered=keep women at home
As someone who has experienced the joys of finding childcare in two other states before starting work in SC, I can say that the situation was similar elsewhere (Ohio and Indiana). Anecdotally the turnover once the kids are beyond 6 months old is terrible. The childcare is expensive and the poor souls working in [most] of the places we have used are not paid well, for sure!
Re: Nixon. Focus on Family and other far-right groups got to him. He listened to the crowd that wants to keep women in the kitchen and at home. The present non-system is much tougher on family than help. I mean, really. We had a country-wide system of day care during WWII because women were all working!!! Somehow western civilization survived.
Exactly! We had it before, let's do it again (without the war this time, hopefully).
In case you are interested, this is the column I wrote about the issue a few months ago. https://open.substack.com/pub/maurac/p/national-help-for-child-care-is-overdue?r=4a6up&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
South Carolina: Protecting white men since 1776.
I especially like the one about what Abortion bans can do......
Emily, I have never seen it where so many males aim to decide what can be done with a woman's body???
All of this is forcing women into a corner and causing them to just forego having kids altogether. Gen Z is not digging marriage and family like previous generations. So now the right wing is crying about "population decline" and the "male loneliness epidemic" and the tragedy of young unmarried men not being able to get laid. Quite a turnaround from when they used to cry about pre-marital sex and teen pregnancies.
It’s disheartening.
My grandchildren are in SC, and I wish they weren’t.
Simply because these sexist beliefs are endemic.
Anyone who wants to visit New England for “women’s healthcare,” drop me a note.
After 35 years as a stay-at-home caregiver to 4 children, my dubs moved to TX to divorce me without support.
I had not put much of anything into social security.
God help all the women and children in this patriarchy. She’s the only one who can.