April R. - Parent
Childcare has been a huge topic for my family from the time we decided to have children 9 years ago. At the time my husband and I were both working minimum wages jobs, and it became painfully clear that it made the most financial sense for me to quit my job once our daughter was born. Had I continued working almost 90% of my pay check would have gone towards daycare costs as we do not have family in the area. As my daughter got older and the need for socialization and interaction with children her own age, as well as the need for more income became part of the conversation, my husband and I again began looking at daycares. The thought was I would be able to go back to work part time. However we soon saw that the quality of childcare we wanted for our daughter did not match the budget we had. So I again chose to stay home and keep her with me.
Fast forward 3 years and we are expecting our second child. The cost of childcare for 2 children under the age of 5 was out of the question. So I was a stay at home mom until my daughter entered Kindergarten. Shortly after I was fortunate to be offered a job with an incredibly flexible schedule. That allowed me to work from home 3 days a week and in the office on 2. This made it possible for our son to attend preschool 2 days a week and a large portion of my paycheck to remain available for our families needs other than childcare.
What would affordable, high-quality early education and child care mean for your family? What would be different if you had access to such a program?
Affordable high quality childcare would be life changing for my family. Although my daughter is in second grade now my son is in preschool so we still require childcare. There is such a sense of failure on my part as a mother knowing the the preschool my son is in is not up to the standard that I would like and know he deserves. Although the providers are wonderful and I know he is safe, it is not the best option. The providers are short staffed and over worked. The playground equipment is minimal and run down and the outdoor space is small. When I drop him off the tv is on and as well as when I pick him up. It is not my first or second or even third choice, but is was the best of what we could afford. Our daughter is now 8 and although she is in school she is not nearly ready/old enough to be left of her own. As a family we dread school and summer vacations. We have to make the choice to bring her to work with us or to take the time off because the vacation childcare cost is one we can not afford.
What else should lawmakers and policymakers know about your childcare/early education needs, especially as we recover from the COVID-19 crisis?
High quality means more than just being affordable. It means having better facilities, non traditional hours, better compensation for providers, access to safe outdoor play spaces, and healthy food options as well as not being a financial burden to the families that rely on it.