99problemswithchildcare

[99problemswithchildcare]

Examples of the seven C’s of Social Change

I am sharing two articles that I believe have significant connections to the seven C’s of Social Change. The first article, titled "Child Care Crisis Pushing Families to Breaking Point: Report" (source: statesmanjournal.com), serves as an illustration of Collaboration and Common Purpose. Both elements are crucial for addressing the childcare availability issue in Oregon and across the country. This matter is a common purpose concern as it affects various groups: families face the challenge of forgoing a second income due to the rising cost of childcare and a lack of available slots, childcare centers struggle to operate due to reduced funding for early childcare and education, and the state experiences economic productivity loss when parents, typically mothers, stay home to care for children.

Furthermore, this issue impacts children who miss out on early education opportunities, putting them at a disadvantage when starting kindergarten. The gap between children who attended early care and those who did not tends to widen over time. These diverse groups with a shared goal of ensuring early education for children must collaborate to provide insights and develop sustainable, effective solutions.

The second article is a paper from Oregon State University titled "Oregon's Child Care and Early Education Crisis: Research-based Solutions for Options, Financing, and Equity" (source: purdue.edu). This paper exemplifies both Commitment and Citizenship in addressing the childcare issue in Oregon. The paper and the associated event are initiatives by an entity located in our state, making them active citizens of this community. They are committed to finding solutions, establishing a committee that reports findings on the impact of childcare issues on Oregon families.

By making information available to community members affected by this issue, they aim to stimulate thinking about the failures within the childcare system and the long-term effects if nothing is done to address them.

The links to both articles are reposted below:

Child care crisis pushing families to breaking point: Report (statesmanjournal.com)

Oregon's Child Care and Early Education Crisis: Research-based Solutions for Options, Financing, and Equity (purdue.edu)

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Childcare Crisis video

This video is touching on the childcare crisis growing in America due to COVID-19 pandemic funds set aside by the government being used up with nothing in the pipeline to replace it. Many providers are left wondering if they are going to be able to stay open, if they haven't shut down already without the funds available to help.

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Perspectives on Early Childhood Development and Childcare

The field of early childhood development and childcare is complex, with many theories offering insights into best practices.

One perspective is the critical role of early childhood in shaping future outcomes, emphasizing the "geology" of childhood—parents, families, and childcare. Early investment in childcare is deemed essential, but there is some argument that the current private childcare system is not only ineffective but also morally flawed. The Vulnerability Theory puts forward that the state has an obligation to ensure substantive quality in access and opportunity for children concerning childcare. The focus is on quality education versus primarily supporting women's wage work, asserting that high-quality care promotes equality and supports child development. The benefits extend beyond children, generating significant social spillovers, including economic activity, a sophisticated workforce, an increased tax base, and cost savings in various sectors (Harbach, 2019). Vulnerability Theory, in summary, is challenging a “liberal legal subject” by recognizing that people are inherently social beings and rejects the idea that humans are fully autonomous, stating that there is a constant vulnerability from birth to death. It also points out that resilience is not a right or privilege and is unequal based on those privileges and powers that are distributed by our broken system (Fineman, 2019).

Another perspective lays out two theories for providing quality childcare. The first theory, attachment relationship theory, highlights the importance of building strong relationships built on trust through repeat, predictable, and sensitive interactions. High turnover is part of the instability surrounding our healthcare system, and that could interfere with the ability of children to form these types of relationships. Large group settings and higher child/staff ratios could hinder the ability of caregivers to provide quality care and attend to individual needs. The other theory is cognitive and social stimulation theory, which outlines cognitive development as an ever-changing process that comes from experience and biological maturation. High-quality childcare would include open-ended and age-appropriate activities to contribute to active engagement during education. Settings, where caregivers are leading activities and giving instruction, are developmentally inappropriate and may lead to more passive learning rather than active learning (2015).

Both discussions are important when considering the quality of childcare, but the first really outlines the shortcomings in the national childcare system and offers some resolution to those issues that need to be explored. The other lends insight into what quality childcare is and the theories surrounding child development. While these are points to strive for, it seems like the biggest puzzle that is crucial to solve is the issue of labor in this sector.

Works Cited:

Harbach, M. J. (2019). Childcare, Vulnerability, and Resilience. Yale Law & Policy Review, 37(2), 459-526. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45219108

Bornstein, Marc H and Leventhal, Tama. (2015). Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, Ecological Settings and Processes Volume 4 (1st ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Fineman, M. A. (2019, August 26). Understanding Vulnerability Theory. Vulnerability Blog. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/vulnerability/2019/08/26/understanding-vulnerability-theory/

[99problemswithchildcare]

A Song about Change

I chose this song because it is about a change in perspective which leads to recognizing that love belongs to everyone, regardless of gender.

[99problemswithchildcare]

"If you don't know, now you know."

I have reposted this podcast episode because it highlights a major part of the issue surrounding childcare issues here in the US. Childcare problems are disproportionately affecting women – during the COVID pandemic, most people leaving the workforce when schools and daycares were being shut down were women. According to this episode, women experienced a net loss of 156k jobs during the pandemic, where men had a net gain of about 16k jobs. Even if women were working a remote position, there was a lot of overlap of home school and work.

There are a lot of other points, such as the loss of revenue to the US economy due to parents leaving the work force, the rise of childcare costs vs. the rate of inflation, and the fact that the US is one of the only developed countries that do not have childcare costs built into the education system, like our public school system, for children younger than 5 years old.

[99problemswithchildcare]

Articles with Opposing Views?

So, for this blog project, the assignment was to find two articles with contrasting viewpoints relating to this social issue. Unfortunately, considering this topic, I am having problems finding articles that don't agree with each other. Minor details may be different, but the consensus is that childcare: is too expensive for many people to utilize, don't have enough open slots for every child that may need to occupy them, workers are underpaid. These points are the same for the childcare issue in Oregon, as they are for the childcare issues in the country.

So far in this blog, the issues concerning the price of childcare and the fact that most, if not all, of the counties in Oregon are childcare deserts have been touched on. However, it hasn't been mentioned that there is very high turnover of childcare workers. Considering the amount that is paid for each child (about $10,000 to $13,000 per year for a toddler), childcare workers here in Oregon are making just over minimum wage. After the COVID-19 pandemic, those working in the restaurant industry or fast-food, saw a pay increase to make their wages more competitive. Those in the childcare industry did not. Which means that sometimes, people working at Starbucks or even McDonald's, may be making more than those we trust to care for our children.

So, here are two articles: one outlining the problem here at home, and one outlining the problem for the country. Enjoy!

More Oregon state lawmakers are finally paying attention to child care issues. Will it matter? - OPB

What the U.S. labor shortage means for child care in the U.S. : NPR

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Stakeholders

Who does the childcare issue impact?

Parents in families – Parents take on duties in the home. Sometimes with a significant impact on well-being. When childcare isn’t feasible or available, parents become the caretakers of young children. This means that they are cleaning up after children, educating children, entertaining children, feeding children, and caring for children when they are ill or injured.

Children in families – children may not have access to all education needs, and often will have to deal with parents that are dividing their attention between them and other siblings, as well as other needs of the family, which can be cleaning, cooking, entertainment, etc.

Children in school – Children in school can be impacted by those that need to leave the workforce, due to poor wages or even childcare difficulties of their own. When there are teacher shortages, classrooms are closed, there are less available slots for care and then the parent will have to figure out what is needed to work around these issues.

Parents in school – parents attending school to further their careers have a hard time with childcare availability because they may not have an income, due to school schedule and availability with childcare centers hours.

Parents in the workforce – Some parents will have to leave the workforce because it is not feasible to work and pay childcare costs. Some will work remote jobs and, essentially, become full-time caretakers as well as full-time employees. Some remote jobs require childcare to be available when working from home as well.

Parents in education – This is about the same as those parents in the workforce, although these parents have double the impact because as they leave the workforce to change jobs or care for their own children, it leaves a hole in the already taxed childcare system.

The US Economy – The US economy is affected by this issue because it is losing out on revenue that could be generated by those parents leaving the workforce to care for their children. It is estimated that billions are lost each year due to this issue.

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Childcare Crisis

The childcare problem exists for many people and has been around for decades. Since women have become more involved in the workforce, childcare needs have been available, but sometimes not adequate for the need. Not everyone will need to utilize the childcare resource, and it may not be feasible for those with more than two children in the age group 0-5. Even so, as after-school care is available, there may be multiple children in any given family using some sort of childcare to help them get by. This issue has been affecting women the most – pushing women out of the workforce due to rising childcare costs, which has also been affecting the education system in the US, where about 90% of early educators are women (CAP, 2021). Women in the early education system aren’t being paid very much – just above minimum wage – which can lead to these educators leaving the workforce for higher paying jobs in other industries, and cause shortages in the education workforce. This leads to less space for children and longer times on waitlists.

Oregon State government has also acknowledged that there is a problem with affordable accommodations for children. There are multiple state-funded programs available to assist families within 200% of the poverty level with their childcare needs. All of these programs, their parameters and their applications are available at the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care website (ODELC, 2023) There are several different programs available for different age groups and income levels, which is how the state is attempting to help children get access to early education, especially when parents need to work to provide enough for their families.

References

Oregon Department of Early Education and Care (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2023, from Department of Early Learning and Care : Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care : State of Oregon

CAP (2021, July 14). The US Childcare Crisis Explained. American Progress. Retrieved October 20, 2023, from https://www.americanprogress.org/article/u-s-child-care-crisis-explained/

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Childcare Deserts

Childcare is a HUGE issue- each county in Oregon has been named a “childcare desert” (OPB, 2021) This means that for every childcare slot available in the county, there are 3 or more children that can occupy that slot. This makes navigating the childcare system extremely difficult for families.

You may wonder whether you will be able to afford to stay home with your children. If this answer is no, you will have to decide if it is worth paying $1000+ per month, per child, to work full-time. If this answer ends up being no, then there is a pretty difficult decision to make. If childcare ends up being the way to go, then the next task is figuring out where you can send your child.

Depending on where you live, there may not be very many childcare centers to choose from. Here in Oregon City, there are about 26 childcare centers serving children ages 0-5, if you are consulting Google. Finding a center with an open slot is difficult, and most of the time, families will be on a waitlist for an opening. I am just getting calls now for a waitlist my family joined in August 2022.

This issue is causing parents to leave the workforce to take care of their young children until they reach the age where they can attend public school. Even then, families are still relying on after-school care to make up for a short school day in comparison to a regular workday. We know that life is hard – things are becoming much more expensive: housing, transportation, even groceries. It’s becoming much less feasible for families to have a parent leave the workforce, especially when there are more mouths to feed and bodies to clothe than before.

References:

Oregon 'child-care deserts" still prevalent. Oregon Public Broadcasting. (2021, June 8). https://www.opb.org/article/2021/06/08/think-out-loud-child-care-deserts/