The Care Crisis
My next research study addresses one of the most pressing social problems facing U.S. women, children, and families: the crisis of care. How we care for each other is one of the most intimate, fundamental questions of the human experience, particularly for children—our society’s future and the most vulnerable among us. Children need quality care and parents cannot always provide it because most work for pay full-time. And yet the United States continues to be an outlier for its lack of a national childcare infrastructure. As a result, families must find private solutions for care. These vary widely in cost, quality, and availability.
Researchers have a good understanding of the structure of childcare and disparate outcomes for children. But we know little about the intervening perceptions and experiences that play out in families’ lives as they navigate the childcare market.
I am beginning interviews with parents across the socioeconomic spectrum to understand how they negotiate the daily care of their children in St. Louis, Missouri. I am also interviewing care providers to investigate the meanings they attach to their work.
If you are interested in being interviewed, please email me at c.collins@wustl.edu. Thanks for your time!
CAITLYN COLLINS 