How can we improve the childcare crisis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in Maryland you need to listen up. The childcare crisis is going to get worse. So much worse! The State will expand pre-K3 and pre-K for programs throughout the entire state. Sounds good, right? For many daycares this is bad news and at our conferences a lot of daycare’s will be closing because they will be losing a huge portion of their children. With only two infant spots, if your home daycare, I am, that leaves you with infants and two year olds which is not sustainable.

The state also wants providers to get a college degree in early childhood education. This means if you have any other degree it is not valid. many women work from early in the morning till late at night when do they expect us to go back to school to get a degree? We are tired, we are burnt out and we have our own families that we need to care for on top of the children we care for during the day.

As it is people are ready scoff at $275-$325 a week, how much more are they willing to pay for a daycare with a early childhood education degree? It won’t be enough to cover the tuition and time that will go into it, never mind the abuse that many face from parents. People disrespect providers by bringing in sick children, not paying on time, dropping off early or picking up late.

The childcare crisis has many facets and that is my point of you about a major driving force. Adding the extra pressure and requirements from the state will mean more daycares will leave the profession entirely which ultimately is bad news for parents.

Yep, this happened already in DC and many centers had to close because it is so expensive to care for infants and toddlers without having their slots subsidized by preschoolers!

[Anonymous]

Sure parental leave is great, but as the mom, I didn’t want to stay home more than 8 weeks. I have 3 kids and I love working and my kids but I’m a better mom, wife, human when I don’t watch my children all day every day. So sure, some people may take the parental leave (my firm offers 6 months paid but I waived it) but that’s not the solution to childcare issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in Maryland you need to listen up. The childcare crisis is going to get worse. So much worse! The State will expand pre-K3 and pre-K for programs throughout the entire state. Sounds good, right? For many daycares this is bad news and at our conferences a lot of daycare’s will be closing because they will be losing a huge portion of their children. With only two infant spots, if your home daycare, I am, that leaves you with infants and two year olds which is not sustainable.

The state also wants providers to get a college degree in early childhood education. This means if you have any other degree it is not valid. many women work from early in the morning till late at night when do they expect us to go back to school to get a degree? We are tired, we are burnt out and we have our own families that we need to care for on top of the children we care for during the day.

As it is people are ready scoff at $275-$325 a week, how much more are they willing to pay for a daycare with a early childhood education degree? It won’t be enough to cover the tuition and time that will go into it, never mind the abuse that many face from parents. People disrespect providers by bringing in sick children, not paying on time, dropping off early or picking up late.

The childcare crisis has many facets and that is my point of you about a major driving force. Adding the extra pressure and requirements from the state will mean more daycares will leave the profession entirely which ultimately is bad news for parents.

Yep, this happened already in DC and many centers had to close because it is so expensive to care for infants and toddlers without having their slots subsidized by preschoolers!

On the other hand as a consumer I have to pay for 0-6 years of daycare because nothing is free until K and my son turns 5 in January so he will basically be 5.75 when he enters K. If I only needed to pay for years 0.5/1-3 it would be a different calculation. Having the first 6 months of maternity leave possibly combined with 3-6 months paternity means the 1st year is covered. I only need to work about age 1- turning 3 for preK3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The insane waitlists for daycare.

The nanny shortage.

The lack of parental leave.

What can reasonably be done to even take a step in the right direction?

Stay home and you take care of your children. I did. Why can't you?

So, your answer is to keep women out of the workforce?

Not women. There are SAHD and will be more and more of them. For the first year, a baby needs a parent. A grandparent can step in but a parent is best.

Ok, so how about a year of parental leave? Some of us can't afford to just leave our jobs and/or would have a lot of trouble getting a new one without moving cross-country. Other countries do this. It's possible.

You just can't imagine avoiding the two-income trap?

There are not enough 1-income incomes to cover parents and children and retirement/SS for both especially in HCOL areas. There are no longer pensions. Women and men get dinged when re-entering the workforce. School-aged children have unpredictable schedules which limits the types of jobs SAHP can take re-entering the workforce. You are also talking about children (ages 17-18) needing to choose whether they go into college or not because of student loan payments.

Exactly how much is a "1 income income?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in Maryland you need to listen up. The childcare crisis is going to get worse. So much worse! The State will expand pre-K3 and pre-K for programs throughout the entire state. Sounds good, right? For many daycares this is bad news and at our conferences a lot of daycare’s will be closing because they will be losing a huge portion of their children. With only two infant spots, if your home daycare, I am, that leaves you with infants and two year olds which is not sustainable.

The state also wants providers to get a college degree in early childhood education. This means if you have any other degree it is not valid. many women work from early in the morning till late at night when do they expect us to go back to school to get a degree? We are tired, we are burnt out and we have our own families that we need to care for on top of the children we care for during the day.

As it is people are ready scoff at $275-$325 a week, how much more are they willing to pay for a daycare with a early childhood education degree? It won’t be enough to cover the tuition and time that will go into it, never mind the abuse that many face from parents. People disrespect providers by bringing in sick children, not paying on time, dropping off early or picking up late.

The childcare crisis has many facets and that is my point of you about a major driving force. Adding the extra pressure and requirements from the state will mean more daycares will leave the profession entirely which ultimately is bad news for parents.

Yep, this happened already in DC and many centers had to close because it is so expensive to care for infants and toddlers without having their slots subsidized by preschoolers!

On the other hand as a consumer I have to pay for 0-6 years of daycare because nothing is free until K and my son turns 5 in January so he will basically be 5.75 when he enters K. If I only needed to pay for years 0.5/1-3 it would be a different calculation. Having the first 6 months of maternity leave possibly combined with 3-6 months paternity means the 1st year is covered. I only need to work about age 1- turning 3 for preK3.

Good for you, but not many people get that much leave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay teachers and childcare workers more. They can make almost as much working in fast food but are responsible for the health, safety, and education of your children.

Agree this is a core problem- but where would the money come from?

From the families who need childcare. Now, personally, I think childcare should be subsidized by the government, on a sliding scale for all families making less than 250K a year (and free for those making under about 100K) for up to 2 kids. And I think that if a parent decides to stay home, they should get the amount that they would be subsidized if they used outside childcare. But until then, parents have to decide if they can afford to pay enough to find reliable childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay teachers and childcare workers more. They can make almost as much working in fast food but are responsible for the health, safety, and education of your children.

Agree this is a core problem- but where would the money come from?

From the families who need childcare. Now, personally, I think childcare should be subsidized by the government, on a sliding scale for all families making less than 250K a year (and free for those making under about 100K) for up to 2 kids. And I think that if a parent decides to stay home, they should get the amount that they would be subsidized if they used outside childcare. But until then, parents have to decide if they can afford to pay enough to find reliable childcare.

LOL and this is why social welfare is just a never happening concept. You want to PAY stay at home moms to take care of their own children? What's to stop someone from having 9 kids and never working for 20 years.

You want to have kids, you pay for their care yourself until pre-k/kindergarten. Period.

[Anonymous]

That's why I said for up to 2 children. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's why I said for up to 2 children. Duh.

4 years before kindergarten with 2 kids spaced out is still 8 years. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure parental leave is great, but as the mom, I didn’t want to stay home more than 8 weeks. I have 3 kids and I love working and my kids but I’m a better mom, wife, human when I don’t watch my children all day every day. So sure, some people may take the parental leave (my firm offers 6 months paid but I waived it) but that’s not the solution to childcare issues.

Ok, please try looking beyond your narrow experience. I don't see anyone suggesting more paid leave is THE solution -- you need childcare for years and not even the nordic countries offer that much leave. Obviously part of the solution has to involve more, and more affordable, childcare so that we are not constantly running into shortages.

However, as a number of people have pointed out, a major reason for the current shortage is that childcare for infants (under 6 months) is incredibly expensive to provide, to the point of being unprofitable for childcare centers. Many jurisdictions require a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio for this age group. That's why these spots are so limited, because adding just two more infants to the center means hiring another FT teacher.

Providing longer leave could resolve this resource crunch because while you might not want to stay home for more than 2 months, many people do. Plus, as many PPs have explained, if we incentives men taking leave and staggering it with women (which is how it often works in countries that don't have this problem), this doesn't have to mean relying on moms staying home. It could be an egalitarian solution.

What if you had taken one extra month of leave (so 12 weeks instead of 8) and then your DH had taken 12 weeks. All paid. And imagine if this is what most two-income families did. Coupled with an investment in adding more daycares, we could heavily shrink the need for infant daycare, opening more space and resources for older babies and toddlers, where the ratio can be more like 5:1 or 8:1. It also might mean better care for kids in these centers because the school could tailor itself to the needs of mobile babies and toddlers without having to assign space and infrastructure to the care, feeding, and nap schedules of infants.

Wouldn't this be worth you taking an extra month of leave? Or, if you really didn't want to, simply hiring a nanny for one month?

This is a social crisis and it requires a social answer. I'm sure you could figure out something that worked for your family, but by ignoring the ways that increased parental leave could transform or childcare landscape, you're basically saying that since 8 weeks of leave is enough for you, it should be enough for everyone. It's incredibly shortsighted. This isn't really about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in Maryland you need to listen up. The childcare crisis is going to get worse. So much worse! The State will expand pre-K3 and pre-K for programs throughout the entire state. Sounds good, right? For many daycares this is bad news and at our conferences a lot of daycare’s will be closing because they will be losing a huge portion of their children. With only two infant spots, if your home daycare, I am, that leaves you with infants and two year olds which is not sustainable.

The state also wants providers to get a college degree in early childhood education. This means if you have any other degree it is not valid. many women work from early in the morning till late at night when do they expect us to go back to school to get a degree? We are tired, we are burnt out and we have our own families that we need to care for on top of the children we care for during the day.

As it is people are ready scoff at $275-$325 a week, how much more are they willing to pay for a daycare with a early childhood education degree? It won’t be enough to cover the tuition and time that will go into it, never mind the abuse that many face from parents. People disrespect providers by bringing in sick children, not paying on time, dropping off early or picking up late.

The childcare crisis has many facets and that is my point of you about a major driving force. Adding the extra pressure and requirements from the state will mean more daycares will leave the profession entirely which ultimately is bad news for parents.

Yep, this happened already in DC and many centers had to close because it is so expensive to care for infants and toddlers without having their slots subsidized by preschoolers!

On the other hand as a consumer I have to pay for 0-6 years of daycare because nothing is free until K and my son turns 5 in January so he will basically be 5.75 when he enters K. If I only needed to pay for years 0.5/1-3 it would be a different calculation. Having the first 6 months of maternity leave possibly combined with 3-6 months paternity means the 1st year is covered. I only need to work about age 1- turning 3 for preK3.

Good for you, but not many people get that much leave

I don't have that much leave I actually had no maternity leave. As the person above me stated the most expensive part of daycare and most vulnerable children are those who are under a year and so if you can at least get to 6 months for maternity leave and then provide 3 to 6 months for attorney lately you can likely get most children to 9 months to 12 months without non parental care.

I absolutely needed 3 months to recover from childbirth and a C-section while taking care of an infant on my own because my partner had to go back at day 4. I got 0. No maternity leave no disability nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay teachers and childcare workers more. They can make almost as much working in fast food but are responsible for the health, safety, and education of your children.

Agree this is a core problem- but where would the money come from?

From the families who need childcare. Now, personally, I think childcare should be subsidized by the government, on a sliding scale for all families making less than 250K a year (and free for those making under about 100K) for up to 2 kids. And I think that if a parent decides to stay home, they should get the amount that they would be subsidized if they used outside childcare. But until then, parents have to decide if they can afford to pay enough to find reliable childcare.

LOL and this is why social welfare is just a never happening concept. You want to PAY stay at home moms to take care of their own children? What's to stop someone from having 9 kids and never working for 20 years.

You want to have kids, you pay for their care yourself until pre-k/kindergarten. Period.

Tell me you don't know what it's like to care for children full time without telling me you don't know what it's like to care for children full time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay teachers and childcare workers more. They can make almost as much working in fast food but are responsible for the health, safety, and education of your children.

Agree this is a core problem- but where would the money come from?

From the families who need childcare. Now, personally, I think childcare should be subsidized by the government, on a sliding scale for all families making less than 250K a year (and free for those making under about 100K) for up to 2 kids. And I think that if a parent decides to stay home, they should get the amount that they would be subsidized if they used outside childcare. But until then, parents have to decide if they can afford to pay enough to find reliable childcare.

LOL and this is why social welfare is just a never happening concept. You want to PAY stay at home moms to take care of their own children? What's to stop someone from having 9 kids and never working for 20 years.

You want to have kids, you pay for their care yourself until pre-k/kindergarten. Period.

I have to agree that this is crazy. People who SAH already aren’t paying taxes on their labor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay teachers and childcare workers more. They can make almost as much working in fast food but are responsible for the health, safety, and education of your children.

Agree this is a core problem- but where would the money come from?

From the families who need childcare. Now, personally, I think childcare should be subsidized by the government, on a sliding scale for all families making less than 250K a year (and free for those making under about 100K) for up to 2 kids. And I think that if a parent decides to stay home, they should get the amount that they would be subsidized if they used outside childcare. But until then, parents have to decide if they can afford to pay enough to find reliable childcare.

LOL and this is why social welfare is just a never happening concept. You want to PAY stay at home moms to take care of their own children? What's to stop someone from having 9 kids and never working for 20 years.

You want to have kids, you pay for their care yourself until pre-k/kindergarten. Period.

Tell me you don't know what it's like to care for children full time without telling me you don't know what it's like to care for children full time

Tell me you don't know there are plenty of families with with huge numbers of kids in this country. HAPPILY.

I love watching them on Youtube. Super-moms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pay teachers and childcare workers more. They can make almost as much working in fast food but are responsible for the health, safety, and education of your children.

Agree this is a core problem- but where would the money come from?

From the families who need childcare. Now, personally, I think childcare should be subsidized by the government, on a sliding scale for all families making less than 250K a year (and free for those making under about 100K) for up to 2 kids. And I think that if a parent decides to stay home, they should get the amount that they would be subsidized if they used outside childcare. But until then, parents have to decide if they can afford to pay enough to find reliable childcare.

LOL and this is why social welfare is just a never happening concept. You want to PAY stay at home moms to take care of their own children? What's to stop someone from having 9 kids and never working for 20 years.

You want to have kids, you pay for their care yourself until pre-k/kindergarten. Period.

I have to agree that this is crazy. People who SAH already aren’t paying taxes on their labor.

... you're so close.

No one pays taxes on their labor. We pay taxes on income. You are acknowledging that SAHPs are performing labor, but the conclusion you are drawing is that rather than compensate them for that labor, we force them to go do other labor somewhere else so that we can tax them on that, and then pay another person as little as humanly possible to care for their child so that we can tax that labor?

Lemme guess. You're a "fiscal conservative" who just cares about the budget deficit?