Working Women and Childcare

In October, I wrote a blog post detailing the effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on women in the workplace, notably the amount the women who had to leave the workplace. In this blog post, after listening to another episode from the Tilted podcast, I felt it was necessary to delve into this topic more, especially since it affects so many working women. Additionally, two inspirational guests joined the episode as well.

The title of the episode is "Fixing America’s childcare crisis with Fatima Goss Graves & Dr. Angela Rachidi," and, overall, it goes into depth on how the COVID-19 Pandemic has only exasperated the childcare crisis, particularly for low-income families and single parents. Fatima Goss Graves is the President and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, which fights for gender justice in the courts, public policy, and society, and Dr. Angela Rachidi is a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute.

"One in three black women [and] almost one in three Latino women are essential workers. They’ve been working throughout this pandemic, many times in conditions that are not safe, and without things like premium pay, and without our care infrastructure, which [has] crumbled" - Fatima Graves

In only the month of September, 1.1 million people left the workforce, and women make up almost 880,000 of them; this directly correlates to the start of school, both virtual and hybrid models. However, you might not think much into this; after all, would these women not just rejoin the workforce once the pandemic is over? Well, there are two problems with that line of thinking.

One, the childcare crisis already existed before the pandemic because of the lack of a proper care infrastructure in the United States. As Graves explains in the podcast, because childcare providers are not supported by the government, they are not paid enough, and, oftentimes, families in certain areas may not have access to a provider within a 50-mile radius of their home. Graves states plainly that, during the pandemic, "Providers could take fewer children safely. They needed PPE in a different way. They needed cleaning supplies in a different way. Instead, what happened, and it’s frankly because we didn’t invest, is that about 20% of providers closed."

Secondly, there are long-term effects of this pandemic on women in the workplace. From wage losses for women to cultural narratives to the ability of women to maintain their careers, women will continue to face long-term penalties as caregivers. "I think we will see a new and sustained spike [regarding] how employers think about women in the workforce, and all sorts of presumptions around them as caregivers," Graves says.

To put a number around the crisis, Graves' research reports that the average annual cost of center-based childcare for two children for a typical black family is 42% of their median income. 42%. That is truly alarming. Furthermore, in a profession such as in the medical field, the long, unpredictable hours for a sizable amount of time restricts the dreams aspirations for many women. And this is only one career example.

Simply put, the childcare crisis is one that needs to be addressed and worked on because, unlike other problems in the pandemic, this one will not go away when it is over.

To listen to the full podcast, click here.