Reply to How can we improve the childcare crisis?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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