Childcare has exploded into the national conversation for all the reasons that it has been part of the local conversation for years: There simply isnât enough quality, affordable care to support our working families.
Childcare is also a flashpoint because it brings all of our assumptions and expectations around gender and families into conversation (and sometimes conflict) with our economic realities.
Few families can afford for mothers not to work. Nationally, mothers are the equal, primary, or sole earners in 40% of all families. Here in Teton County, the Baseline Childcare Inventory shows that families pay twice the national average â 15% of their incomes â to cover childcare expenses, and 84% of families with children have all parents in the workforce (compared to 71% nationally).