Interweaving with Song Lee: Child Care as Public Good and “Radical Joy”
Song Lee is a rising junior in Cornell University studying Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). She is passionate about advocacy and hopes to pursue a career in law. (Photo: Song Lee)
The last time I talked to Ms. Song Lee, she was enjoying the warm breeze on the Moondance Cat at the Western New York Child Care Action Team (WNYCCAT) third annual celebration. The event was intended to appreciate all the individuals who help advocate for a more equitable child care industry for parents and professionals. Ms. Lee is a prized member of our community, not least because she is visiting us from abroad yet contributing like a tried and true child care community advocate. At the celebration, she represented Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations as a High Road Fellow,. The fellowship brings Cornell University undergraduates to Buffalo, New York, where they participate in engaged learning and applied research with community partners.
This summer, Ms. Lee served as an intern for Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, one of the more powerful funders of action research and community development in the city. She worked closely with Maria Whyte and Allie Urbanski, leaders in the CFGB as well as stalwart supporters of the Child Care Community in western New York. Among the issues that Ms. Lee was asked to research was the political economy of child care. It’s a notoriously complex topic, but it didn’t take her long to make sense of it - and to make an impact.
By the end of her internship (July 26), Ms. Song Lee had produced a wonderful study of child care professionals, soon to be published by Partnership for Public Good, Buffalo’s community-based think tank. She situates child care as part of a broader Care Economy, which is the term social scientists use to describe the “public infrastructure” – the people – who provide education, compassion, and health care to our loved ones and other vulnerable populations. Her research also challenged advocates to consider the tax reforms (like Massachusetts’ successful Millionaire’s Tax) which may generate the revenue needed to subsidize parents and professionals in a heretofore insolvent child care industry.
One of the great joys of being an academic is watching people go from beginner to trailblazer in a field of study. As a writer for Weave News, not only do I get to watch emerging rock stars like Ms. Song Lee ‘do their thing’, but I get to share their voices with the world. In this Interweaving conversation, I am pleased to introduce you to Ms. Song Lee, High Road Fellow and Child Care Community Advocate.
How did you become a researcher in the Western New York Child Care Community?
Initially, I had no idea I would end up researching childcare in Western New York. I had never been to Buffalo before this summer, and I had near to no prior knowledge about the childcare crisis as we know it. Last spring semester, I applied to be a Buffalo Highroad Fellow because I was inspired by other undergraduate students who had done incredible work before me. This ranged from interviewing stakeholders in lead poisoning research, to picketing with the largest healthcare union in the country, to creating mass-publicity content reaching community members. It wasn’t until later in the process that I realized I would have the opportunity to research a topic I had minimal previous knowledge about - the child care crisis.
However, I grew passionate about the subject as I learned more about the extensive history spanning until today. I had the incredible opportunity to speak with leaders of the child care community and help plan for convenings to fight the crisis. Although my time here was brief, I was very grateful for the opportunity I had to learn so much about the topic. My hope is that my research will provide an inkling of knowledge in the future - even if not at the policy level, perhaps to inform more people about how severe and prevalent the problem is.
What is the Child Care Community? From your perspective, what are its most important functions?
As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.” The Child Care Community is everyone who contributes to raising our next generations, to implementing progress, and to spurring societal growth. Throughout my research, I have found that the vast majority of the child care workforce in New York State consists of women of color below the poverty line without a bachelor’s degree. A shocking 94% of child care workers are women, according to the New York State Department of Labor in 2023.
“How do we define true universal care? How do we sustainably fund universal child care for the long-term, instead of implementing temporary relief like we did in the pandemic? What will a new system realistically look like when put into place? How do we balance bringing about sweeping, powerful change on a large scale while staying grounded with the people and communicating what changes must be implemented? How do we strategically join hands throughout the care economy, despite the vast variety within it, and stay united in collective struggles?”
Like with almost every crisis, the vulnerable bear the brunt of the impact. Child care workers have historically received low wages. This has resulted in an economically devastating labor shortage, shutting down businesses and decreasing access for families of lower socioeconomic background. As access to high-quality childcare diminishes, child rearing responsibility falls on millions of mothers.
We are talking about the future here. The next generation of youth are the makers or breakers, the ones who will shape the workforce, the government, and the world. They can be the harbingers of true change, the next W.E.B. Du Bois and Albert Einstein, the innovators who will battle climate change and cancer. The caregivers, the members of society raising these children during their crucial developmental years, are being underpaid and undervalued. We are failing our own futures and neglecting our children.
There is an economic argument to be made with access to high quality affordable childcare as well. Establishing living wages and creating access to affordable child care would benefit all. Although there are short-term costs, there is significant return on investment. Not only will firms be able to retain talent efficiently, but the economy will flourish with contributions to the labor force.
This is, in my opinion, why support for the Child Care Community is crucial. There should be increased accessibility to affordable and high-quality child care - it is a public good from which the economy and arguably the entire nation benefit.
In your opinion, what are the 2-3 biggest issues impacting the Child Care Community?
A phrase that floats to the surface in most child care spaces is universal child care. Many agree that this is the ultimate goal, the “north star,” so to speak. However, the divergence of ideas comes from how we achieve this goal. How do we define true universal care? How do we sustainably fund universal child care for the long-term, instead of implementing temporary relief like we did in the pandemic? What will a new system realistically look like when put into place? How do we balance bringing about sweeping, powerful change on a large scale while staying grounded with the people and communicating what changes must be implemented? How do we strategically join hands throughout the care economy, despite the vast variety within it, and stay united in collective struggles? I believe these are the primary questions that the Child Care Community continues to grapple with today.
As a Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations High Road Fellow, how did your internship with the Community Foundation shape your study of the New York State child care industry?
For most of my program, I was compiling information to prepare for a Child Care Action Retreat that occurred on July 24, 2024. Near the beginning of the event, one particular statement struck me and stayed with me. Esteemed Director of Cornell University ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, Ms. Cathy Creighton, stood at the podium in the beginning of the event to provide an overview of her research. At the very end of her statement, she confidently declared, “We are Cornell, the Ivy League, and New York State’s land-grant university. Use us.”
In her bold and blazing fashion, she wasn’t afraid to say it. Cornell undoubtedly holds weight and power as an Ivy League institution. It is thus the duty of the Cornell student body and faculty to implement that weight carefully and conscientiously - to provide power to the people. As a Highroad Fellow this summer, I got a glimpse of that power that I had never had before. I came to understand the necessity of wielding it and handing it over in the places that can use it for change. Indeed, I would like to gain more knowledge and experience so that I can better serve communities the same way leaders like Ms. Cathy Creighton do.
What did your experience of the WNYCCAT 3rd Annual Community Celebration teach you about the children, parents, providers, workers, and/or advocates in the child care community?
As I sat on the side of the cruise over the swaying water, snacking on strawberry and watermelon, it occurred to me how connected the child care community is. I had not known how professional and goal-driven the event would be, but it was actually quite a relaxed environment. Groups of all ages, ranging from bright-eyed toddlers to respected elders, all gathered. Everyone mingled in the sun, enjoying the music and each other’s company. It may seem obvious to some, but I realized that this tight-knit group was truly a community. They were not faceless workers or titles, but fearless advocates, loving mothers, passionate academics, and driven researchers who all wanted to see a brighter future for the next generations. In moments like those, I realized just how radical joy was and just how crucial connection was.
