It’s summer time! The kids are out of school, and everyone’s scrambling to find child care, summer camps, or just trying to make things work day by day. Before the summer madness sets in, it’s important to dive into a crucial topic for all of us: child care.
A big question that often comes up is: Why should I care about child care if I don’t have young kids? Just like clean air, water, and public schools, child care isn’t just a personal issue; it’s a public one. It impacts every single one of us, and it’s time we all start paying attention.
In a recent discussion with Julie Kashen, Director for Women’s Economic Justice and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, we tackled some of the big issues: why child care is essential, how to help everyone see it as a public good, the differences between the Child Tax Credit and child care, and how parents who handle child care duties are often undervalued.
Child care is the backbone of our lives and a cornerstone of a more equitable society. When we invest in child care, we’re investing in gender and racial justice, the mental and physical health of caregivers (especially mothers who carry the bulk of the mental load), the development of our youngest children, and the overall economy. Unfortunately, there’s a harmful narrative that if you struggle with child care, it’s your fault. That’s simply not true. It’s an attempt to isolate us so we don’t question the systems that are failing to meet our needs.
Child care is a widespread challenge, and it’s a failure of public policy, not personal shortcomings. It’s deeply connected to economic prosperity, workforce participation, educational equity, and social welfare. Child care is a public good, and it’s time to recognize it as such.
By understanding how child care impacts all aspects of society, we can advocate for policies that reflect this reality. We need affordable, accessible, and high-quality child care for all families. It’s time to acknowledge child care for what it truly is: a critical piece of our social infrastructure.
