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I have been laid off three times in three years due to the economy - this has caused me to lose all of my savings and other hardships I'd rather not list. Childcare/Preschool in the Bay Area is expensive and it's necessary so that I can find a job. I had to take my daughter out of her preschool and...Read more
Anonymous
As a recent PhD graduate, I've been looking for full-time work while struggling to manage an active 2 year old daughter. I am fortunate to have a grandmother nearby who watches my daughter twice a week. Without her, I would not be able to apply for jobs or keep up with the few contract jobs I do...Read more
Shelby
After about five years of paying for full-time child care that I couldn't afford, I had to remortgage the house to get out of the debt that I had incurred. I was working full-time out of necessity,and therefore paying for full-time child care of necessity. My husband lost his job when our son was...Read more
Anonymous
Like most Americans, I do not have paid family leave. I went into labor with my son when I was at work, almost two months before his due date. My son was born at 33 weeks, by emergency C-section, and spent a month in the NICU. I used all of my vacation and sick time to be with him daily. When that...Read more
Jonna Ashley, Denver
I shopped around quite a bit while I was pregnant with my first child and right after he was born. I checked online mommy groups for advice and drove around my neighborhood. The places I found were not very nice and the biggest red flag was that the kids did not seem happy at most of the places...Read more
Dawn
I was coming back from maternity leave in a couple of weeks and work and myself already had arrangements for me to work three days a week and work from home or bring the baby to work two days a week until I could secure full time daycare in about one to two months. In our town, there is only one...Read more
Anonymous
I was a daycare assistant in a home daycare setting in Irvine CA for approximately 5 months. What I discovered is that the motivation for most of these business owners is the opportunity to supplement their income while being able to stay home with their own young children. The woman I accepted a...Read more
Michele
We have been fortunate to find great child care centers in MA, GA, and NY (we moved a lot), with developmentally appropriate curriculum, good staff/child ratios, healthy food, and a safe environment. However, without dual professional incomes, we couldn't have afforded the very high rates. I...Read more
Anonymous
Well, I guess I'm one of the "lucky" ones in the working middle class who makes just enough money to justify keeping a job and placing my two children in daycare. We couldn't afford full time care for both. So for three days a week, childcare costs more than my mortgage. In fact, when I balance my...Read more
Jeannine
When my first child was about to enter preschool, we did not know what to do. We could not afford a private preschool but we also did not qualify for Head Start. We found out about a public preschool (Heritage Child Development Center) that sounded great so we called them up. They had a number of...Read more
Lisa

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