Reply to Working Moms and Do It All Expectation

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the problem is complex and centers mainly around the fact that a system that supported a working spouse/stay-at-home spouse model has NOT adapted to support two working spouses.  For all the "advances" women have gained over the last several decades there is nearly no associated update to the infrastructure to support us. [/quote]

Agreed, and the US really lags behind some other countries in this. The combination of (1) childcare being hard to find and very expensive, and (2) lack of leave and flexibility in US workplaces, combines to put American families in a bind. And it's compounded by rising housing and college costs.

In the US, if both parents work, you have to find full time childcare all year round. The problem does not go away when kids start school, because school breaks are lengthy and most American workplaces offer nowhere near the amount of leave necessary to cover them. Yes childcare is also not only very pricy but often hard to find. American families are constantly struggling to find childcare that will last until their work day is over, that will cover that last week of August before school starts, that will enable them to not have to take ever professional development day off work, etc.

Other countries have lower hours requirements for work, often government mandated leave policies that facilitate taking time off during school breaks, PLUS they often have subsidized childcare programs that make it easier for a family afford childcare from birth until a child is independent enough not to need it.

I used to see this as just a function of hyper-capitalist culture in the US, but with this Trump administration, I do view it more cynically as a concerted effort to try and force women out of the workforce by just making it too hard or expensive for families to go without a stay at home parent. Of course it's backfiring and instead birth rates are falling (note: falling birth rates are precisely why other countries adopted subsidized childcare and mandated leave policies). I think we're at a crossroads and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.[/quote]

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