3-6 months paid leave. Encourage parents to stagger their leave (it's good for families because it forces both parents to bond with children and develop parenting skills). Large employers will be required to provide a minimum of 3 months per employee, smaller employers and people who are self-employed would be subsidized out of a central fund. Can also follow models from other countries that offer 100% paid leave for some period and then diminishes to a lower percentage for longer leaves. But jobs are guaranteed after the leave.

Subsidized or free childcare (based on income qualification) starting at 1 year. Parents would sort out the first year between leave, family help, and paid help. Then we'd have government run or sponsored (so private centers could apply for government subsidy in order to offer free/reduced price care to people) childcare centers from 1-3. Not offering government sponsored care for kids under 1 resolves a lot of logistical issues with infants and babies, who require much lower caregiver to child ratios and also are less mobile. Toddlers are ideal for group care -- they do parallel play, can follow basic directions, can walk and play on playgrounds, etc.

Subsidized or free preschool. We already have this in DC and other places. It's fantastic in terms of enabling parents to work while also providing social-emotional skills to kids who need it and some pre-kindergarten academics.

Expanded aftercare and summer programs for school age children (again, DC already has this to some degree) to close the gap for working parents. People overthink this stuff for some reason. School age kids don't need particularly expensive care outside of school. We don't actually need to be doing enrichment. You can just make sure you are hiring qualified minders and then let kids play. They get enrichment in school. Some parents will pay for classes and the like, but we really just need safe places for children to play after school or in the summer while their parents are working.

You treat having children as a normal and expected part of most people's lives and structure society in a way that supports what children need (time to bond with parents, intensive care as infants, and safe group care as toddlers and preschoolers). You stop acting like having a child is some outlandish and selective activity only engaged in by the rich or the selfish and acknowledge that it is among the most basic human instincts. And you also recognize that by helping parents maintain employment through their children's early years, you actually keep more people (especially women) in the workforce, paying taxes and maintaining their skills.

I know this doesn't work perfectly in other countries but it works a heck of a lot better than the system we have here -- better for workers, better for families, better for kids.

What we currently do Does. Not. Work.

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?

The parents.

Parents can afford to give up more of their money from their two sets of income...it is not a societal problem that two income households with kids have to use a good portion of their money for care for their kids. Single person households do not have two incomes to leverage and they do just fine.

This may be the most privileged post I have ever seen on DCUM

I'm not sure you know what "privileged" means.

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.

I'm a teacher and there is no ways I would make almost as much in the fast food industry.

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.

Not in DC-they are getting a taxpayer-paid raise that was voted in by City Council-about an extra 6 bucks an hour for a full-time child care teacher, who currently only needs a high school diploma and a CDA certificate. This will be paid in a lump sum this fall but will continue yearly.

And we are still having trouble hiring! Where I work this will bring their hourly rate to over 30/hr plus excellent benefits.

$30 per hour to teach 30 kids? That’s atrocious. I made $25/hour with excellent benefits doing 1:1 in school almost 20 years ago. $30 is a terrible pay rate especially in DC where cost of living is so high. No wonder people are leaving. You also shouldn’t be trusting that many kids to someone with just a hs diploma. DC needs some better priorities.

30 Kids? Where are you getting that? No, 8 or 10, depending on the age. And that's with a co-teacher.

Ok, my mistake, but that’s still not enough. They need at least $50 per hour to make it more appealing. I wouldn’t apply there. You might get people but they won’t be highly qualified.

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?

The parents.

Parents can afford to give up more of their money from their two sets of income...it is not a societal problem that two income households with kids have to use a good portion of their money for care for their kids. Single person households do not have two incomes to leverage and they do just fine.

This may be the most privileged post I have ever seen on DCUM

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.

Not in DC-they are getting a taxpayer-paid raise that was voted in by City Council-about an extra 6 bucks an hour for a full-time child care teacher, who currently only needs a high school diploma and a CDA certificate. This will be paid in a lump sum this fall but will continue yearly.

And we are still having trouble hiring! Where I work this will bring their hourly rate to over 30/hr plus excellent benefits.

$30 per hour to teach 30 kids? That’s atrocious. I made $25/hour with excellent benefits doing 1:1 in school almost 20 years ago. $30 is a terrible pay rate especially in DC where cost of living is so high. No wonder people are leaving. You also shouldn’t be trusting that many kids to someone with just a hs diploma. DC needs some better priorities.

30 Kids? Where are you getting that? No, 8 or 10, depending on the age. And that's with a co-teacher.

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?

The parents.

Parents can afford to give up more of their money from their two sets of income...it is not a societal problem that two income households with kids have to use a good portion of their money for care for their kids. Single person households do not have two incomes to leverage and they do just fine.

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.

Not in DC-they are getting a taxpayer-paid raise that was voted in by City Council-about an extra 6 bucks an hour for a full-time child care teacher, who currently only needs a high school diploma and a CDA certificate. This will be paid in a lump sum this fall but will continue yearly.

And we are still having trouble hiring! Where I work this will bring their hourly rate to over 30/hr plus excellent benefits.

$30 per hour to teach 30 kids? That’s atrocious. I made $25/hour with excellent benefits doing 1:1 in school almost 20 years ago. $30 is a terrible pay rate especially in DC where cost of living is so high. No wonder people are leaving. You also shouldn’t be trusting that many kids to someone with just a hs diploma. DC needs some better priorities.

Paid parental leave is a start. Also, prioritizing children instead of two-income families for those who cannot live near family.

More ways to outsource is not the solution.

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.

Not in DC-they are getting a taxpayer-paid raise that was voted in by City Council-about an extra 6 bucks an hour for a full-time child care teacher, who currently only needs a high school diploma and a CDA certificate. This will be paid in a lump sum this fall but will continue yearly.

And we are still having trouble hiring! Where I work this will bring their hourly rate to over 30/hr plus excellent benefits.

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?

Anonymous wrote:Paying childcare workers should be tax deductible by companies or individuals. Large companies should be able to put childcare workers on their payroll and offer them the same benefits as other employees. This would encourage more workplaces to have onsite childcare and improve the salaries/benefits of people who provide childcare so that they can afford to stay in the job.

Individuals who hire a nanny should be able to deduct her salary and include her as a member of the household on their own health insurance. Again, this would solve a lot of the problems of people being paid under the table illegally, not paying into social security, not having unemployment benefits, and not having health insurance. It would make being a nanny a much more viable long term career.

OP here. I was just reading this morning that hiring a refugee is a tax deduction- employers can deduct up to 40% of a refugee's pay. It got me thinking there should be a way to encourage refugees to work in childcare. I wonder if the deduction would apply to families hiring a refugee nanny legally via w2. It seems like it could be a win-win for nanny and family.

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.

Paying childcare workers should be tax deductible by companies or individuals. Large companies should be able to put childcare workers on their payroll and offer them the same benefits as other employees. This would encourage more workplaces to have onsite childcare and improve the salaries/benefits of people who provide childcare so that they can afford to stay in the job.

Individuals who hire a nanny should be able to deduct her salary and include her as a member of the household on their own health insurance. Again, this would solve a lot of the problems of people being paid under the table illegally, not paying into social security, not having unemployment benefits, and not having health insurance. It would make being a nanny a much more viable long term career.

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?