Women – especially women of color – are the backbone of our care system, which makes up an estimated 25% of the U.S. economy. This month, we’re shining a spotlight on the urgent need for an affordable, equitable child care system – and celebrating our biggest Day Without Child Care yet!
In “To Abolish Poverty, We Need a Fully Funded, 21st-Century Child Care System,” Community Change Co-President Dorian Warren puts the dysfunction of our current system in historical context and describes our vision for what is possible:
“Undervaluing childcare providers is rooted in the history of the profession, when enslaved Black women were forced to care for white children without pay. When Franklin D. Roosevelt stewarded passage of transformative New Deal policies in the 1930s, in a concession to Southern lawmakers who wanted to preserve Jim Crow and maintain aneconomic advantage for white men, he excluded domestic workers from Social Security, minimum-wage laws, and overtime pay.
Today, early childhood educators remain woefully underpaid even as the rising cost of child care makes it unaffordable almost everywhere in the United States. This combination has contributed to widespread poverty for women and children, particularly families of color.”
At Community Change we help create opportunities for solidarity among the many groups who care about leaving a better world for our kids, giving them an equal opportunity to thrive. To learn about Community Change’s approach to addressing the child care crisis and building economic security for all families, read the full piece in the Foundation for Child Development’s “Social Justice for Young Children Conversation Series”
