6.6 - Endings and Beginnings

The two-year-old with the mean teacher at the beginning of this chapter is now a nine-year-old with a zest for life. Haylee was a pirate for Halloween this year—one with big black platform shoes, several tangled skull and bone bracelets, pirate shirting, and lipstick (for a new twist on an old image). A quick, intelligent kid, she loves horses, reading, fishing, and all things adventurous. Her mother was able to find a better, yet quite expensive, preschool where Haylee thrived as a little girl. Haylee’s story ended well, but too many working families have little choice but to stay in inadequate care. As a nation, we must do better.

With little tasseled graduation caps on their heads and gowns over their clothes, the five-year-old graduates at Angenita’s inhome childcare center lined up to show their stuff to parents and classmates. They took turns sharing their prowess in Spanish; sign language; counting by twos, fives, and tens to one hundred; and telling their names and phone numbers. As they each walked up front for their special moment, cameras were flashing, video tapes recording, and the children beamed. The parent of each child came up to the front of the room to publicly congratulate their child on their early success. The room was full of laughter, clapping, and even some tears.

Angenita created a special environment for the children in her care. The story of the obstacles she overcame as an in-home childcare worker is one with huge heart and a hopeful ending. That said: Joining a union to consolidate the workers’ collective power is only a beginning. Even with the incremental successes mentioned in Angenita’s story, the majority of these in-home childcare workers that care for children forty to sixty hours a week still don’t make a living wage, and don’t have health insurance. In fact, childcare workers as a whole—from those who work in independent childcare centers to those who work from home—don’t have the benefits they need to protect themselves and their families from falling into poverty.

Childcare workers are providing our society with a crucial service. They should not be asked to personally take on an unfair share of the burden of supporting our nation’s children. As a country, we must find ways to provide them with benefits and a fair living wage so they can continue to do the work they love, work that is so valuable to their communities and to the economic health of our nation. Community education, organizing, pressure, and support can help change the way childcare workers are compensated, as we saw in Illinois.

Daliyah, four years old, clearly loves going to the military child development center she attends during the day while her mom is working. “When I drop her off, she runs to the teachers and gives them a hug. She always wants to be the last one left because she wants to have more fun,” recounts Alberta with a smile in her voice. “She’ll tell me, ‘I’m not ready to go home yet. Pick me up last.’ So I know my baby’s being taken care of.”

It’s clear to Alberta that the teachers not only care about the kids, but also are on top of their education, “Every time they bring her out, the teachers tell me her progress—the things she learns, what’s she’s doing,” says Alberta.

The military’s well-funded child development program enriches the lives of both families and childcare providers. This doesn’t happen by chance. The military prioritizes excellent childcare, not just with their policies, but with funding: For example, in 2004 the Department of Defense budgeted $379 million to support serving over 200,000 children, not including additional supplemental funds.³² A majority of problems with the civilian childcare picture come back to a shortage of funding—funding to help parents that need assistance, funding for providers’ salaries and education, and funding for educational resources. It is penny wise and pound foolish to underfund childcare.

Lettecia doesn’t know what she would do without Hope-Link’s Adelle Maxwell Child Development Center that provides excellent care for her sons while taking into account what she and her family can afford. Her sons Mason, four years old, and Alex, three years old, are blossoming in the center. Knowing her children are in good care, Lettecia is going back to school herself to get a nursing degree while also working. This is so she can eventually bring in more money to support her family. Clearly, the children are thriving, and so is their mother. Without the subsidized childcare, this family, like many others, would likely stay stuck in a cycle of poverty.

The stories of local subsidized childcare through Hope-Link, and that of the military childcare program, are two examples of success from which we can learn. It’s time to work to ensure that all children and families have access to excellent childcare.

The current childcare landscape is diverse and reflects the creativity of parents under pressure—parent co-ops where parents take turns watching groups of children, internet matching of childcare needs, so parents can share the cost of childcare providers, unionsponsored or negotiated childcare, company-provided childcare, more access to quality emergency backup daycare in some areas, and an increasing understanding that some working parents need care for children after 6 P.M. as they work nontraditional schedules.

Yet there aren’t many easy answers or quick solutions, notes Netsy Firestein, Director of the Labor Project for Working Families. “Some of these options are complicated, particularly because the root of the problem is allowing parents the time they need to parent. So for example, instead of backup sick care for children, we as a society should make sure people have paid sick days for when they need to care for their child or other family members. Some of this can be solved through flexible schedules, but some workers don’t get that option because of their type of job.” She concludes, “It’s striking a balance between living in a 24/7 economy and being able to raise a family. If we want people to work different shifts and weekends, then we have to come up with better solutions for people to be able to care for families.” Ultimately, we need to address the fact that as a nation we must prioritize supporting the care of our young children.