The NOICTSU Rundown - Bonus Episode: Where to Direct Your Primal Scream
Season one of the series No One is Coming to Save Us gave listeners a deep dive into the child care crisis and what it will take to fix it. Since then, something incredible has happened: the issue has been put front and center in our nation’s discourse.
One measure tied to President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, known as the reconciliation package, could totally transform child care and early education in this country, ensuring that it is affordable and accessible for all families. This legislation is the biggest opportunity we’ve had to fix the child care crisis in 50 years.
Host Gloria Riviera returns for a conversation with Neighborhood Villages’ co-founders, Lauren Birchfield Kennedy and Sarah Muncey, to better understand what’s truly at stake and what you can do to help get this legislation over the finish line.
Bonus Episode: Where to Direct Your Primal Scream
In “Where to Direct Your Primal Scream,” host Gloria Riviera starts off with a recap of where we left off at the end of season one (catch up here!).
“We called it a mess before,” says Gloria. “Let me just add to that by saying that the U.S. Treasury Department recently called child care in the U.S. ‘unworkable’ — I would agree.”
Calling the child care system a mess is an understatement. Right now, without accessible child care, parents are struggling to get back to work. Many Americans pay more for child care than they do for their mortgages. And although waitlists remain lengthy, child care centers can’t fill classrooms due to critical workforce shortages.
But we are on the precipice of change.
“The amazing thing is, once Congress can get its act together, we could wake up tomorrow and have a universal affordable child care and early education program,” says Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, co-founder of Neighborhood Villages.
“Let’s call what’s happening in D.C. ‘The Big Opportunity’ to do right by children and families and care providers in this country,” continues Kennedy. “How we are seeing this phrased and how the politics are playing out is that we have the hard infrastructure package — and then we have the companion piece to President Biden’s big vision agenda, which is the reconciliation package. The big bill has built into it some really big investments in universal, affordable child care, free universal pre-k and preschool, paid leave, healthcare measures for people on Medicare. It’s big.”
The potential impact of this bill is HUGE. The reconciliation package, if passed in its current form, is expected to cut child care costs in half. For families struggling to afford child care, that financial burden would be alleviated (capping costs at 7% of household income for most, and eliminating cost for the highest need families). And this bill wouldn’t just help families, but educators too. Across the country, we are experiencing a child care workforce crisis, as many make only minimum wage and cannot afford to stay in the field. Under this package, the wages of our early educators would increase significantly.
So what can we do to get over the finish line?
“As all these Senators and Representatives debate what should or should not go into this bill, we need to make it clear — this is one of our priorities. Don’t touch child care,” says Sarah Muncey, co-founder of Neighborhood Villages.
Muncey continues, “When I listen to politicians right now playing ‘I’ll give you this if you give me this or cut this,’ I’m looking at them thinking, do y'all think anything in the other big hard infrastructure package happens if no one has child care? Who’s building your damn roads? Who's making the bridge? I don’t understand.”
What we’ve worked so hard for is finally within reach.
The moment is here. We need to rise to the occasion and get this bill passed. This is our big opportunity for real, systematic, impactful change and we can’t let it go to waste.
Call your Representatives and Senators in Congress – and those who represent you in your state’s legislature – and tell them that child care is your priority. Not quite sure how? We’ve got you covered: check out the talking points here and find out who represents you in Congress here. Remember: your elected leaders work for YOU. Tell them, “I’m a child care voter!”