No One Is Coming To Save Us — A story about how to fix our broken child care system
By Kate Duncan, Neighborhood Villages supporter and volunteer
This year, the theme of Women’s History Month is “Women who tell our stories”. I want to share a story about early child care. If you aren’t a parent of a 0-5 year old KEEP READING. This is a story for everyone.
Former ABC News reporter Gloria Riviera tells the story of our broken child care system in No One is Coming to Save Us, a podcast conceived and funded by Boston-based non-profit organization Neighborhood Villages. It tells the story of the child care crisis in America and sheds light on the challenges faced by parents, providers, and early educators. Most importantly, it spotlights solutions to build a system that actually works for everyone.
Through the stories of families, providers, and educators, Gloria shows how the system as currently structured isn’t working for anyone:
Families around the country pay exorbitant costs for child care. In 2022, 72% of parents in the U.S. reported spending 10% or more of their household income on child care costs. In Massachusetts – one of the most expensive states for child care – the average family pays $20,913 a year for infant care.
Providers also struggle to afford the cost of providing that care and are left scrambling to cover their operating costs, barely staying afloat.
The system is effectively subsidized by the underpaid teachers who care for our youngest learners. Teachers in early education and care – often women of color – are among the lowest earners: in most states, the median child care worker makes less than half the living wage.
Employers and taxpayers suffer too. According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, lack of access to child care in Massachusetts is resulting in at least $2.7 billion each year in lost earnings for individuals, lower productivity and additional costs for employers, and lost tax revenue for the Commonwealth.
Children have access to meals and educational support in the K-12 system. Many children lack these fundamental needs in their 0-5 years. Providing these through the child care system could support them at their most vulnerable as well as prevent treatment later on.
With a 4 (and a half) year-old daughter and newly 3-year-old son at home, childcare is the only reason my husband and I can balance two demanding careers. It is our lifeline, but we are privileged that we can afford quality childcare and lucky enough to find institutions that love our tiny humans and give them an environment to thrive and grow in. They also potty trained both of our children so they will always have a special place in my heart.
Listening to No One Is Coming to Save Us helped me to make sense of the child care crisis, and inspired me to connect with Boston-based Neighborhood Villages as a volunteer and contributor because they are working to enable access to affordable, high-quality child care for all families with high-impact, scalable programs that address the biggest challenges faced by providers and families. Parents in Massachusetts: do you remember your sense of relief when your daycare told you about the COVID test-to-stay program? Neighborhood Villages made that happen.
Early education and child care is one of the smartest, most urgent investments we can make. I’m proud to support their efforts to bring about real and lasting change; to ensure that my daughter’s generation does not have to struggle under the weight of our broken child care system in the way that my generation, and my mother’s, and my grandmother’s did. It’s time to change the story.
I’d love to hear from you. What child care story do you have to share? If you’d like to get involved or learn more, please reach out!