signalmankenneth
Verified User
Last week, vice president candidate JD Vance responded to questions about child care costs. On the heels of a surgeon general’s warning proclaiming that parental stress is a public health crisis in America while speaking at a conservative event, Vance was asked, “What can we do about lowering the cost of day care?” More than half of American families spend over 20 percent of their combined income on child care.
"One of the ways that you may be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for day care is, make it so that, maybe like grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there's an aunt or uncle who wants to help out a little bit more," Vance said. “If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we’re spending on day care.”
The response aligns with the messaging of a resurfaced clip of Vance where he seemingly endorsed the idea that “post-menopausal females” exist to help parents raise children.
Multiple reports and studies have shown that current child care costs are untenable for American families. To put it in perspective, the average cost of child care for two kids is more than the average rent in all 50 states across the country. Finding high-quality child care is a major challenge for most parents. It’s the driving force behind big life decisions, like reducing hours at work, changing jobs, or leaving the workforce entirely. Vance’s solution to this — to have families rely on each other for child care — as if American families haven’t thought about doing that already, is offensive to many in the trenches right now.
“This idea that we might be able to find some free solution we haven't thought of is rather insulting,” Erin Erenberg, founder of Chamber of Mothers, a nonprofit that advocates for better support for moms, with local chapters in 21 states told Salon. “The fact that it is financially not a priority for our lawmakers is a major problem and signals, especially to mothers, that our care work is not valuable.”
Indeed, the proposed solution touches on a toxic American narrative that continues to plague mothers — that caring for children is the domain of women and such labor should be done for free. When it comes to parenting between today’s generation of parents, there is a lot to be said about the generational differences between Millennial and Gen Z parents and Baby Boomers. Despite disagreements, one commonality is that the solution to the current childcare crisis isn’t asking grandma for help, for a myriad of reasons.
Erenberg said part of the problem with today’s child care crisis is that families live more isolating lives. The “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality has not only pushed more families to be nuclear in structure, but it’s also affected the way lawmakers approach child care.
“The system is absolutely broken,” Erenberg said. “When you look at the fact that we do not subsidize any kind of child care from ages zero to five, you can see why families are struggling.”
Daphne Delvaux, an employment attorney and founder of The Mamattorney, a platform educating women on their rights at work, told Salon that in her opinion, the biggest issue is that the U.S. does not invest financially in child care. Indeed, the United States relies on parents’ ability to pay and the private market to provide child care services more than other countries.
Mothers today frequently face “an impossible choice,” Delvaux said.
“Either pay their full salaries, or more, to child care providers — or leave the workforce,” she said. “Due to the pay gap, it remains women who usually leave paid work as the historically lower-earning partner.”
It’s not just child care that is driving women out of the workforce; it is also elder care duties — which adds to why grandparents aren’t the solution.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jd-vance-wrong-experts-boomer-093005535.html
"One of the ways that you may be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for day care is, make it so that, maybe like grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there's an aunt or uncle who wants to help out a little bit more," Vance said. “If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we’re spending on day care.”
The response aligns with the messaging of a resurfaced clip of Vance where he seemingly endorsed the idea that “post-menopausal females” exist to help parents raise children.
Multiple reports and studies have shown that current child care costs are untenable for American families. To put it in perspective, the average cost of child care for two kids is more than the average rent in all 50 states across the country. Finding high-quality child care is a major challenge for most parents. It’s the driving force behind big life decisions, like reducing hours at work, changing jobs, or leaving the workforce entirely. Vance’s solution to this — to have families rely on each other for child care — as if American families haven’t thought about doing that already, is offensive to many in the trenches right now.
“This idea that we might be able to find some free solution we haven't thought of is rather insulting,” Erin Erenberg, founder of Chamber of Mothers, a nonprofit that advocates for better support for moms, with local chapters in 21 states told Salon. “The fact that it is financially not a priority for our lawmakers is a major problem and signals, especially to mothers, that our care work is not valuable.”
Indeed, the proposed solution touches on a toxic American narrative that continues to plague mothers — that caring for children is the domain of women and such labor should be done for free. When it comes to parenting between today’s generation of parents, there is a lot to be said about the generational differences between Millennial and Gen Z parents and Baby Boomers. Despite disagreements, one commonality is that the solution to the current childcare crisis isn’t asking grandma for help, for a myriad of reasons.
Erenberg said part of the problem with today’s child care crisis is that families live more isolating lives. The “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality has not only pushed more families to be nuclear in structure, but it’s also affected the way lawmakers approach child care.
“The system is absolutely broken,” Erenberg said. “When you look at the fact that we do not subsidize any kind of child care from ages zero to five, you can see why families are struggling.”
Daphne Delvaux, an employment attorney and founder of The Mamattorney, a platform educating women on their rights at work, told Salon that in her opinion, the biggest issue is that the U.S. does not invest financially in child care. Indeed, the United States relies on parents’ ability to pay and the private market to provide child care services more than other countries.
Mothers today frequently face “an impossible choice,” Delvaux said.
“Either pay their full salaries, or more, to child care providers — or leave the workforce,” she said. “Due to the pay gap, it remains women who usually leave paid work as the historically lower-earning partner.”
It’s not just child care that is driving women out of the workforce; it is also elder care duties — which adds to why grandparents aren’t the solution.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jd-vance-wrong-experts-boomer-093005535.html