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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 am a single mother of young children and I am in law school with a degree from UW. But three years ago, a single set back destabilized my entire family. A single, and rare, support payment from the father of my children temporarily put me over the income limit for my childcare subsidy. Overnight...Read more
Angelica, Seattle, WA
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
I was a teacher at the local high school for 7 years. When I got pregnant for the first time, I wanted to do everything...continue teaching in my FFA program AND raise a baby. Turns out it was a hard match. Adding my daughter to my health insurance was one thing (I went from paying $15/month to $...Read more
Michelle
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
The absolute worst part of becoming a new mother two years ago was trying to deal with my time off from work -- supporting myself and my family financially and guaranteeing that I would have a job to return to. I work for the University of Texas which is considered to have good benefits including "...Read more
Briana, Texas
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
In September 2010, I gave birth to my first child via c-section. I had arranged for 12 weeks of maternity leave at 2/3 pay, using vacation time, sick leave, and taking four weeks unpaid. I worked for a small nonprofit that lacked resources for paid maternity leave. Fortunately my husband's company...Read more
Jennifer
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
I was an Early Childhood Education teacher for over 25 years. Children who have been in a high quality ECE program have a major advantage when they start public or private school. ECE is crucial in developing a lifetime love of learning, socialization with other children and adults, and basics in...Read more
Pat, Utah

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