The Care Crisis
Childcare is a source of stress for most families today, rivaling only housing as the biggest line item in families’ budgets. I’ve conducted 75 interviews with parents in St. Louis over the past two years to understand the challenges they face as they navigate childcare.
Thanks to a new grant from Pivotal, I am expanding this study with a two-year, multi-method project with collaborator Dr. Chloe Gibbs, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
Our goal is to define care affordability as families experience it in order to catalyze the field and inform policymaking. The overarching question shaping this research agenda is: What challenges do families face in accessing early childhood care and education that meets their needs, and what solutions remedy those challenges?
Founded by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal is a group of organizations working to accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people in the U.S. and around the world.
My media commentary on childcare:
- Harvard Business Review. “Two New Moms Return to Work–One in Seattle, One in Stockholm.” Mar. 3, 2020.
- The New York Times. “The Real Mommy War is Against the State.” Feb. 9, 2019.
- The Washington Post. “Why Haven’t U.S. Mothers Returned to Work? The Childcare Infrastructure They Need is Still Missing.” Nov. 8, 2021 (with Leah Ruppanner and William Scarborough).
- Harvard Business Review. “The Free Market Has Failed U.S. Working Parents.” Nov. 12, 2020.
- The Atlantic. “In Germany, Parents Can Sue the Government for Failing to Provide Childcare.” Jan. 10, 2017.
- Harvard Business Review Podcast. “Why U.S. Working Moms Are So Stressed–and What To Do About It.” Mar. 26, 2019.
