As voters have continued to indicate that cost-of-living concerns are top of mind, affordability has become a buzzword this campaign season. Among those worries for parents is accessing day care. WAMC's North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley spoke about the challenges with Sara Wood, a Plattsburgh mother with a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old infant.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Wood: I would love to be able to be home with my children every day. Unfortunately, we live in a world where most people live in a household where you need two incomes. I am a part of that world and although me and my husband do fairly well for ourselves, we're still living in a world where the housing market is extremely pricey. We have a mortgage to pay, other bills to pay, so we need both of our incomes. So in that regard, your hand is kind of forced to, OK, I have to start looking at daycare now.
Bradley: So once you found daycare, how did it change your daily routine?
Wood: It was hard with my son specifically. He had a hard adjustment to daycare. So that really impacted my first, I would say, nine months back to work, where I had to work a reduced schedule. Once he transitioned, it adds a little bit more routine and a little bit more rush to your morning. Trying to get everybody ready to get out the door, it can be challenging. And then coming home by the time you pick up from daycare, get home, cook dinner, do dishes, do bath, you're pretty much ready for bed. So you don't get a whole lot of just, Hey, let's relax and be a family evening time," which can be really hard.
Bradley: When you were looking for daycare, how did you find one that would mesh with your kids well?
Wood: Everything worked out beautifully for us in the end. I'm at a phenomenal daycare. The initial though, like when he was an infant and we were having to look for daycare, especially in our area, it was kind of take what you can get and hope it's okay. And that can be extremely unsettling as a parent.
This daycare was recommended to me by a colleague of mine. We went and interviewed and toured, and thankfully I'd had some communication with the daycare provider and things that she was sharing with me made me feel more at ease. I really liked her communication style, so it made things a bit better. But the pickings are quite slim in this area and especially infant spots are rarely heard of. But your cost is going to be higher. So parents are really in a tough spot.
Bradley: Well, you mentioned touring the daycare center and finding out about it. Do you need that preparation?
Wood: It's important to see is this person a right mesh for my family? Do we discipline the same way? Do we have the same kind of set of rules and structure? Are they going to communicate with my child in ways that my child needs to be communicated with? And those are things that you can really kind of only tell by going and touring.
Bradley: I have heard some families where the cost of childcare is so high, it's easier for them to have one parent quit their job and stay home. Have you ever contemplated that?
Wood: I personally have not. Although my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, that's exactly what they chose to do, because essentially when they looked at their finances, it would have cost them essentially what my sister-in-law was making in her salary to send their child to daycare.
Bradley: There are some companies that provide on-site daycare. Is that something you'd like to see?
Wood: I would love to see that come up more places. I think that's a phenomenal option. I've worked at a agency before, and it was something that was talked about, and I see that a lot. Agencies, companies will talk about this. The follow through was rarely there. I think that if these things could happen, I think that you would see where parents would be more comfortable going to work, especially if a daycare was on site or fairly close.
That would have been something extremely beneficial for me that first year with my son, because part of that was I had to leave work to go nurse him because he wouldn't take a bottle. So that was taking about an hour-and-a-half out of my day to travel, nurse, travel back to work, where I could have been more beneficial to where I was working, had I only had to step away for maybe 20 minutes that day.
Bradley: How much state and federal funding or support of any kind do you think there should be for daycare?
Wood: As much as they will give us. I don't know that I have like any particular number or amount in mind. But I think we live in the world where everybody is expected to work at least 40 hours a week, five days a week. But we're still living in like the 1950s, where your wife is at home doing the home care and the husband goes to work and takes care of the finances. So we have that old mentality. But both parents are having to work and it's not sustainable. It takes a toll on everybody and it makes it extremely hard to have that family life balance.
Bradley: So, Sara Wood, what would you advise parents and potential parents that are seeking daycare for the first time?
Wood: My biggest thing would always be to make sure that you are meeting with the people who are going to be caring for your child. You almost have to look at that as almost a secondary parent, and you want them to be in a safe, loving environment because these early years it matters so much to their growth and development moving onward for the rest of their life.
