Description

Economist Armine Yalnizyan says lack of child care is forcing mostly women to give up jobs and income, hobbling family finances and the larger economy -- with many consequences into the future.

Parents are facing a tough choice as the economy is reopening and many are returning to work. The health crisis potentially leads to the permanent closure of many child care facilities, which deepens the pre-existing problem of accessibility to child care for many families. The situation has been complicated by the lack of information, as well as lack of health and safety guidance provided by the government for how child care can safely reopen. The pandemic has revealed the weakness in our social infrastructure that treats child care and care work as individual choices rather than the essential part of the economy.