Child Care: Underreported and Underappreciated
In the shadow of the Empire State. (Photo: Steve Peraza)
On Wednesday, December 13, child care advocates from across New York State gathered in front of the midtown Manhattan building where the Governor stays on New York City trips, 633 Third Avenue.
There were close to 30 activists huddled together holding signs, speaking into mics, and demanding that Governor Hochul sign the Decoupling Bill.
The Empire State Campaign for Child Care, led by Dede Hill, Executive Director of the Schuyler Center, hosted the rally. I was there, too.
Why “decoupling” matters for child care
Child care is a right! (Photo: Steve Peraza)
The Decoupling Bill is difficult to explain, but, please, allow me to try. Right now, if you qualify for child care assistance, which I will refer to as a subsidy, you can only receive the subsidy if your child is in care while you are working.
For many low-income workers, work hours are variable, and shifts are changing daily, such that they work ad hoc, nontraditional hours. If they find child care providers whom they like and trust to care for their kids over the 9-5 workday, but they themselves work, for example, at a local restaurant or warehouse during evening and/or overnight shifts, then the subsidy will not help these working parents pay for the child care, no matter that they qualify.
The reason is that NYS child care assistance is coupled with parents’ work schedules; the subsidy will only pay for child care while the parent is working. This punishes workers who lack a 9-5 job, which happens to be a significant portion of people for whom the subsidy was legislated. The law we rallied to get signed would “decouple” child care assistance from parents’ work schedules. It’s common sense if the goal is to help more parents afford child care.
Legislators speak in support
The Decoupling Bill has passed the NYS legislature’s two houses with bipartisan support. NYS Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D - Forest Hills) sponsored the Decoupling Bill in the NYS Assembly. In this video clip from the rally, the Assemblyman acknowledges the child care labor market as the “workforce behind the workforce” and a major economic engine. The child care industry thrives, he asserts, the more parents can afford the quality child care services providers offer. They need access to the subsidy.
In the NYS Senate, Jabari Brisport (D - Brooklyn) sponsored the Decoupling Bill. At the NYC rally, Senator Brisport made an urgent call for affordable child care and warned that delay was a sign of opposition. In this video footage, the senator challenges Governor Hochul to sign the bill immediately.
If there were 30-40 people screaming in front of the Governor’s Office in Manhattan, one might think there was somebody out there covering the story. Crickets. In the end, child care received less coverage than Taylor Swift.
I don’t think Americans will appreciate child care until they try to drop their kids off and see the daycare boarded up. Good luck getting to work then…
