Blog 6

Listening to the documentaries and reading chapter two of the Chaudry book shows the vast range of child care options that low-income mother must resort to, it is shocking. Women ideally want a safe, consistent means of childcare but many are not receiving that due to the high expense of reliable childcare in conjunction with the lack of federal funding. One mother received a scholarship to a daycare center that reduced her payments from $360 to $206 a week but once she received a pay raise it was taken away, even though it was only about an extra $100 a week. Another mother missed the deadline for claiming an employment status change and went from what she usually paid a month to paying that per week. Even though anyone who makes less 85% less than the state poverty level should receive childcare aid, many do not because lack of funding. Because of these constraints and challenges, low income women must turn to alternate forms of childcare. They rely on family members, one family had to rely on a brother in law who was waiting for an organ transplant, a substitute teacher, and a 77 year old woman (Childcare Struggles). Some women prefer at home care for their children while some want reliable care during times of employment. Either way they want a nurturing environment for their child and want a some sort of structured time plan. Instead they are letting about anyone watch their children. One lady in the book said she left her child at someone’s home and was bullied by the women’s grandchild. Another mother was disappointed that the child did little more than watch television all day. In one case, the lack of funding has lead to a ratio of care worker to child as high as 1:256 (ARC Childcare). A shocking quote from the same report states “dog kennels get inspected more in California than childcare centers” because of the licensing laws and lack of funding. In 14 states it is legal to practice childcare without a license, which many women have to resort to because it is all they can afford. It is apparent that low-income women must rely on unsafe and reliable health care due to the lack of funding and aid they receive from the government, but we must consider the reparations of inadequate health care.