Cuts to Child Care Subsidy Thwart More Job Seekers

[groovedaddy]

TUCSON — Able-bodied, outgoing and accustomed to working, Alexandria Wallace wants to earn a paycheck. But that requires someone to look after her 3-year-old daughter, and Ms. Wallace, a 22-year-old single mother, cannot afford child care.

Last month, she lost her job as a hair stylist after her improvised network of baby sitters frequently failed her, forcing her to miss shifts. She qualifies for a state-run subsidized child care program. But like many other states, Arizona has slashed that program over the last year, relegating Ms. Wallace’s daughter, Alaya, to a waiting list of nearly 11,000 eligible children.

Despite a substantial increase in federal support for subsidized child care, which has enabled some states to stave off cuts, others have trimmed support, and most have failed to keep pace with rising demand, according to poverty experts and federal officials.

That has left swelling numbers of low-income families struggling to reconcile the demands of work and parenting, just as they confront one of the toughest job markets in decades.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/business/economy/24childcare.html?th&emc=th

[daggahead]

1. Is this what "Family Values" has come to? n/t

[robinblue]

2. This is long standing problem of Back to Work policies=miminum

or service sector jobs for the most part (part of welfare reform of the 90's). Its an never ending battle for funding for these families in many states-even Democratic states.

[Blue Meany]

3. This will lower the unemployment rate...

since more people will be classified as no longer looking for work. There, problem solved <sarcasm>

[dropkickpa]

4. I would have been royally screwed if it weren't for my family

I'd never have been able to afford child care when Dropkid was 0-5 years old, no way, no how. I would have HAD to stay on public assistance until she was in school if it weren't for them. It's got to be near impossible for those without strong support networks, ESPECIALLY now.