This Monday December 14th on KPFA Radio’s “Women’s Magazine” we look at how racial Capitalism and Patriarchy have created a punitive underfunded child care system in the U.S. where the
the average hourly wage of child care workers is $10.72 per hour, many of the women in need of child care are black and brown women and few get any government support in accessing child care. This system
is informed by the history of slavery in the U.S. where women’s job to reproduce the work force is required but never supported. And the reality in our neoliberal economy is that many women especially women of color are the essential workers during covid and are working 2-3 jobs just to survive and yet rarely getting any government support for child care.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has closed 535 child care businesses in San Diego County while simultaneously raising operating costs and shrinking revenues for an already struggling industry.
The number of closures represents about 12 percent of child care providers in the county, according to a November report from the YMCA Childcare Resource Service.
“We’re really seeing that child care providers are struggling to keep their doors open,” said Kim McDougal, executive director of the Childcare Resource Service.
A fear of health risks is one of the main reasons child care programs have closed, a statewide survey of the programs by UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment shows.
Roberta Royce has always thought of the child-care industry as resilient.
When the novel coronavirus upended businesses, schools and social systems this year, she was hopeful The Winchester Learning Center, where she serves as executive director, would find a way to keep providing care throughout the crisis.
But the challenges were significant, from the high cost of personal protective equipment for employees to a decline in enrollment as some parents opted for family care over group settings.
So the center applied for relief through New Hampshireâs Childcare Recovery and Stabilization Program and was awarded $28,200 â funds that have helped support scholarships for families and cover PPE costs, Royce said.