Parents who DIY the care of their children also need - and deserve - support. Our grassroots nonprofit organization, Family and Home Network, calls for inclusive family policies that support "care for children" so all families are supported, whether they provide care themselves or use paid care providers. All care for children is essential work.
I love and dream about this from the provider end, as a nanny with hopes of running my own in-home daycare one day. (Though the affordable housing crisis makes that an uncertain future for me-so many issues are connected!) I’m painfully aware of how, though all children deserve the level of care I provide, I can only afford to provide it to well-off families. I would love to be able to offer my services to all families, and to do so without sacrificing my own ability to earn a decent living.
I am writing a story on in-home daycares and how they will fare under Vermont’s expansion. So far it’s been quite positive and in-home care is one of the fastest ways to grow the child care supply, especially in areas where there aren’t a lot of child care options already.
This is great. I think the framing of it feeling like "winning the lottery," highlights the sense of how little caring for our people, including children, is considered something extra, indulgent, or personal. Like, there is no sense that caring for each other is part of how we make the world work better for everyone, or something we owe each other.
Seems like this is quite unfair to stay at home parents. Why should my taxes pay for others parent’s childcare if my wife decides to stay home? Where is our help?
Also this demand based subsidy most likely will just push prices higher in the long run. Just like college tuition.
Hi! Great article. I live in Vermont. I'd be happy to talk to you about what's happening in our state right now, which is a public education crisis. Act 76 is great and desperately needed here, but our public education is suffering. We are going through extreme cuts, and the way our pub ed is funded (through real estate taxes) has become an absolute disaster. We are fighting (as parents and community members) tooth and nail to get the legislature's attention to figure out how to fund pub ed without cutting things like arts, music, and STEM (all on the chopping block). We are losing valuable teachers. Let's Grow Kids is incredible, we are going to need more lobbying at the state level for public education. Our school are falling apart, budgets are being cut, with Trump taking over I am so afraid of what will happen to federal funding in our state. Act 76 is a massive step in the right direction...but we need to do right by kids at every age and every stage of public education, we've got a long way to go.
Parents who DIY the care of their children also need - and deserve - support. Our grassroots nonprofit organization, Family and Home Network, calls for inclusive family policies that support "care for children" so all families are supported, whether they provide care themselves or use paid care providers. All care for children is essential work.
Gee, it’s almost as if supporting families will do more to increase the birth rate than outlawing reproductive healthcare.
I love and dream about this from the provider end, as a nanny with hopes of running my own in-home daycare one day. (Though the affordable housing crisis makes that an uncertain future for me-so many issues are connected!) I’m painfully aware of how, though all children deserve the level of care I provide, I can only afford to provide it to well-off families. I would love to be able to offer my services to all families, and to do so without sacrificing my own ability to earn a decent living.
I am writing a story on in-home daycares and how they will fare under Vermont’s expansion. So far it’s been quite positive and in-home care is one of the fastest ways to grow the child care supply, especially in areas where there aren’t a lot of child care options already.
Would be curious to know if there are any plans to extend payments to domestic workers.
This is great. I think the framing of it feeling like "winning the lottery," highlights the sense of how little caring for our people, including children, is considered something extra, indulgent, or personal. Like, there is no sense that caring for each other is part of how we make the world work better for everyone, or something we owe each other.
Highly recommend Carol Garboden Murray’s work on the need to re-emphasize and value the care aspects of early childhood work. 💛
This is great news for VT caregivers. I hope that other states take notice of this as a beta test and decide to follow suit.
I wish everyone could have this. My daughter’s daycare bills were enormous and her income just a fraction of the example you give.
Seems like this is quite unfair to stay at home parents. Why should my taxes pay for others parent’s childcare if my wife decides to stay home? Where is our help?
Also this demand based subsidy most likely will just push prices higher in the long run. Just like college tuition.
Hi! Great article. I live in Vermont. I'd be happy to talk to you about what's happening in our state right now, which is a public education crisis. Act 76 is great and desperately needed here, but our public education is suffering. We are going through extreme cuts, and the way our pub ed is funded (through real estate taxes) has become an absolute disaster. We are fighting (as parents and community members) tooth and nail to get the legislature's attention to figure out how to fund pub ed without cutting things like arts, music, and STEM (all on the chopping block). We are losing valuable teachers. Let's Grow Kids is incredible, we are going to need more lobbying at the state level for public education. Our school are falling apart, budgets are being cut, with Trump taking over I am so afraid of what will happen to federal funding in our state. Act 76 is a massive step in the right direction...but we need to do right by kids at every age and every stage of public education, we've got a long way to go.