Let’s make 2022 the year we #SolveChildCare
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION
Dear Friend,
One of the best things about the New Year is the feeling of hope,
change, and new beginnings.
But for a lot of parents and child care providers, 2022 is feeling A LOT
like 2021. With the Omnicron variant in full speed, no child care and
working from home with kids is becoming the norm again and the child care
staffing shortages are only getting worse.
Thankfully, the hope, change, and new beginnings families are waiting for
in 2021 can be just around the corner if Congress acts NOW!
[ [link removed] ]*SIGN ON to tell Congress: Let’s make 2022 the year we finally solve
child care!
This week convos with my momma friends have felt like Groundhog’s Day and
it’s not even February. Instead of feeling rested, folks are exhausted yet
again trying to figure out child care. Just last week, a friend told me
that between snow days, positive COVID cases, and continued staff
shortages, her toddler was home more days than in child care so far this
year.
Similarly, after months of searching and working at home while caring for
her toddler, Julie, a MomsRising member in Michigan, and her husband found
a childcare program that costs $800 a month, which is now stretching their
household budget to its limits. On top of the cost, temporary closures,
caused by staffing shortages and outbreaks, often leave Julie’s family and
others scrambling to find last-minute care. [1]
And they aren’t the only ones. We KNOW that this last year (years?
decade?) has taken a toll on all of us. From women, especially women of
color, being forced out of the workplace in record numbers due to a lack
of child care, [ [link removed] ] to child care centers struggling to stay open, [ [link removed] ] to
our children going through unprecedented social-emotional challenges – and
even more so for kids of color and kids with disabilities. [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ] This is
why this New Year needs fireworks of solutions that can put 2022 on track
for our families to thrive.
[2]*Urge your elected leaders to make a comprehensive, affordable,
high-quality child care and Pre-K system for families a reality by passing
the Build Back Better Plan in 2022.
This is OUR moment. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to let our
elected leaders know that we need sufficient funding for child care and
early learning so that we can build a nation where every child can thrive,
including:
* Less or no out of pocket child care costs for families
* Affordable, high-quality child care families can find no matter where
they live
* Living, family-supporting wages for early educators which will help
meet the rising demand for staff and make sure the people who care for
our kids are able to support their own families
* FREE Pre-K
Now THAT is the vision that should be on every elected leader’s 2022
vision board!
[3]*Tell Congress to make this child care vision a reality by passing the
Build Back Better Act!
It’s time to push Congress to help us achieve a historic VICTORY by making
the biggest investment in child care and early learning in decades a
reality.
Thank you for joining our team as we stand together for child care!
- Nina, Lauren, Donna, and the whole MomsRising.org/MamásConPoder Team
References:
[1] The US Is in Urgent Need of Childcare Solutions, MS
Magazine, [4][link removed]
[2] The Primal Scream, New York
Times, [5][link removed]
[3] After mass closures, too little support, post-pandemic child care
options will be scarce, The Hechinger
Report, [ [link removed] ][link removed]
[4] A National Agenda for Children’s Mental Health, Child
Trends, [ [link removed] ][link removed]
[5] Mental health implications of COVID-19 on children with disabilities,
NCBI, [ [link removed] ][link removed]
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