" They are HOPING moms leave the work force . It ’s running in tandem bicycle with no fault divorcement and adult female ’s bodily self-reliance . It ’s about controller . "
It feels as if we are always being forced to acknowledge the failures of the US childcare system while simultaneously watching it get worse. On average, American families are paying$15,000 a year for childcare. Fifteen. Thousand. Dollars.
In 2021, the Biden administration approved an emergency$40 billion of federal funding to childcare programsnationwide during the pandemic to basically save the industry. This funding helped increase childcare workers' pay and lower childcare costs during the height of COVID-19.
Unfortunately, that funding is set to expire shortly, and the situation we’re currently in has been nicknamed the"Child Care Cliff"because we are dangerously close to the edge. So, what does this mean for the future of affordable childcare in the US?
An economist namedKathryn Anne Edwardsrecentlyaddressed a SenateBanking, Housing, and Urban Affairssubcommitteein a now-viral videoabout the devastating impact of nationwide childcare center closings, saying, “In surveys, paid childcare providers say that when Rescue Act funds end, they will either cut staff wages, raise prices, close classrooms, or close altogether. It would be unheard of for any combination of those actions not to push parents, largely mothers, out of the workforce.”
Even if you don’t personally have children, you may still be affected by this economy. “States will lose a projected $10.6 billion in revenue and parents could lose up to $9 billion in annual earnings,” according toMSNBC.
Another wrote, “My twins are three. When they were born (my eldest was 2), I had to leave my teaching job bc daycare was more than my salary.”
One user pointed out the connection between the overturning ofRoe v. Wadeand the expiring of federal aid for childcare, writing, “They are HOPING moms leave the work force. It’s running in tandem w/no fault divorce and women’s bodily autonomy. It’s abt control.”
Emphasizing that point, another user wrote, “Is it me or does it feel like They are trying to force us women to have to rely solely on MEN again?? The real life Handmaids Tale.”
So, potentially millions of children may be kicked out of their childcare centers, the entire US economy could take a massive hit, and the percentage of women in the work world may drop drastically.
