By Bob Norris
Everyone reading this paper has likely had trouble finding childcare or paying for it or knows somebody who has experienced this.
So why do we hear very little about this in public discussions?
Quality early childhood education would be a great benefit for the children who could attend, would allow mothers to work so that they’re not living in poverty and would provide employees for many businesses.
So why don’t we talk about this? More importantly, why don’t we do something about this? When we try to, why is there such pushback?
Why is it there’s so much reluctance to invest in the very youngest human beings in our community?
Like anything else, I suppose there are several reasons. One reason is that while some success has been achieved, the necessary changes will require public funding, as do most public benefits.
Several groups in Colorado have considered various specific solutions. Each has failed to get the necessary public support.
A small group of people decided there must be a way to increase awareness in public discussion. They decided to organize a public event that would bring diverse groups together in sufficient numbers that would create increased attention to the child care desert in Boulder County.
On the morning of May 18 at Roosevelt Park in Longmont, there will be a Mother’s Day March for Child Care. The primary sponsors for this event are the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County and the City of Longmont. They are joined by more than 30 Boulder County nonprofits representing different segments of our community and thousands of people who are impacted by the child care desert that continues to exist in Boulder County.
The event will begin as nonprofits set up tables and booths, followed by some children who will entertain the crowd. Brief speeches addressing many of the child care-related issues will then follow.
Following a short march, attendees will be able to visit tables and booths to learn about the several nonprofits and importantly to learn more about child care and how to access child care and its benefits.
The benefits of childcare are well-known and well-researched. Children who have benefited from quality early childhood education are more ready for kindergarten and first grade, more likely to graduate from secondary school, and more likely to move onto careers that benefit themselves and their families in the community. At the same time, it reduces the likelihood of undesirable involvement with law enforcement.
Child care providers provide meaningful work for many, however, the pay is substantially less than it should be compared to the benefit to the community.
The impacts of a child care desert such as we have in Boulder County are dreadful. Many families are further confined to low income and may live in poverty when the breadwinner, usually a woman, cannot find employment because there is no affordable child care for their children.
At a time when many businesses would like to hire well-qualified employees, they are at home with their children They have the desire and more importantly the need to be working.
In reviewing scholarship applications, it was disappointing to see how many students are having to work many hours after school because the parents have to stay home instead of working. other students have to go home from school to take care of their younger siblings while the parent goes off to work.
These students are unable to participate in the many beneficial afterschool programs that our school districts provide. Participation in afterschool programs is beneficial in many ways. It can impact a student’s potential for getting a scholarship or learning a skill that can lead to future employment and quality of life.
A few years ago the CEO of UC Health hospitals told a panel that the hospital staff was under additional stress because they were having trouble finding childcare.
While the difficulty of finding any affordable childcare impacts many thousands of people in the county, it is a unique problem for those like police officers, firefighters and nurses who work the evening or night shifts.
Bob Norris is a Longmont resident who, as a Unitarian, believes in the worth and dignity of every human.
