Jayla J. - Parent
[Name changed at request of participant]
My son is now 9, finding him child care from the age 2-now having affordable child care is still the biggest issue for me. Child care for a single parent opens job opportunities and education opportunities. Lack of available and access to AFFORDABLE child care is hurting mothers/fathers. I have passed down or not even apply for some jobs because of the work hours conflicting with school hours. I do not have family that will watch my son so I can go to work. Having to pay for babysitters to sit with my son for 8 hours and getting paid every 2 weeks was putting a strain on my finances. In result I had to step down from my position and work less hours but I had no choice, some of us have no choice but to try and figure it out because our children come first.
You have people that are on assistance for so long because they can't find childcare or they get child care for only 3 to 4 hours a day because they need to find a job how are you supposed to find a job if you don't have childcare. When you are filling out applications they ask you what your availability is. Somebody that has a open availability is going to get the job for somebody who's always revolve around school hours and they can't work weekends because they have nobody to watch their child. you have people that are on assistance for so long because they can't find child care or they get child care for only 3 to 4 hours a day because they need to find a job how are you supposed to find a job if you don't have childcare. When you are filling out applications they ask you what your availability is. If there is somebody that has open availability they will get the job versus somebody who's hours revolve around school hours and they can't work weekends because they have nobody to watch their child. Let's think about opening a center for the communities that we live in on the weekends. Child Care is the first step in helping people achieve their goals to ultimately get off of the system.
What would affordable, high-quality early education and child care mean for your family? What would be different if you had access to such a program?
Affordable high-quality Early Education and childcare would mean that my child would be safe during the hours that I would need to work. If I had access to programs I would apply for different jobs instead of limiting myself to jobs that don't having me live up to my full potential, applying for jobs that keep me earning minimum wage instead of jobs that can pay me what I should be paid for my experience and could help me financially.