You are reading

Op-Ed: Child Care is Vital to Our Communities and Economy, NY State Should be Bold and Aim for Universal Child Care

Image courtesy of Diana Limongi

Jan. 12, 2022 Op-Ed By Diana Limongi

As a parent of two children and a childcare advocate, I know all too well that families all over Queens and across New York State are having difficulty finding affordable, quality child care in their communities.

This was already an issue before COVID; New York lost more than 9,500 licensed child care slots from 2019 to 2020 and the pandemic only made it worse, forcing many centers to shut down permanently.

Between April 2020 and Feb 2021,1,500 child care providers in NY closed. This is an issue that I know personally as my own beloved child care center closed during COVID and never reopened its doors, leaving us without the loving caregivers we trusted to take care of our daughter while we worked.

Given the hardships that families are facing, I had high hopes that after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how critical child care is for our communities, Gov. Hochul would take this opportunity to lead the way by announcing a bold plan that would position New York State as a leader on child care and an example to follow nationally.

Diana Limongi and her daughter Sofia (Mia Isabella Photography)

Alas, Gov. Hochul’s plan falls short:

At a time when most families are spending a good chunk of their take-home pay on child care (for many families, it can represent 20-30 percent of our take home pay, higher if it is a single parent) the Governor’s proposal lacks the bold, transformational investments we need to help working parents.

Investing in child care doesn’t only mean supporting working parents, it is also about recognizing the professionals who take care of our children. Bigger investments to support our childcare workforce are a must.

Sadly, Gov. Hochul’s proposed investment of $75 million of unspent federal funds for workforce support also falls short. Early Care educators, many of whom are women of color and immigrant women, have one of the most important jobs in our communities, but most are not making living wages.

The average median child care wage is less than $30,000 a year. In fact, over half qualify for public assistance, and don’t have access to affordable healthcare or other benefits such as paid time off.

As a parent who has relied on child care workers to be able to work outside the home, I want the people who take care of my children to be able to take care of their families and that means having access to living wages and good working conditions.

The proposed $75M is not a new investment, but leftover federal funding from federal stabilization grants that went to child care providers last year. Not only is this an insufficient amount but it also provides no new state investment in child care and falls short of meeting current, urgent needs.

Sadly, it does not even begin the transformative change required to ensure quality care for our children and work opportunity for parents.

Child care is a huge financial stressor for parents. Bring it up at any mom or parent forum and most parents will tell you: child care is just too expensive.

Image courtesy of Diana Limongi

The burden of making child care work usually falls on working mothers. The burden when it doesn’t work usually results in mothers being pushed out of the workforce.

For some parents, child care can represent 20-30 percent of a family’s take home pay– to be clear, this isn’t a “low income” family issue. Families across the board are struggling to pay for child care.

How does Governor Hochul expect people who are without child care assistance to work and care for our children?  Sadly, her failure to make bold, transformational investments in childcare will mostly hurt mothers, children and child care providers who are professionals and care deeply about the children in their care.

Investments in child care don’t only make sense from an economic perspective (more people working is good for the economy), but also from gender, racial and immigrant justice perspectives.

When families cannot find affordable, quality, accessible child care, many women are forced out of the workplace– and this is bad for our families, and bad for our economy.  The time is now! I urge Gov. Hochul and our leaders in New York State to take bold action: Make investments in our child care system, with the goal of universal child care in the great state of New York. New Yorkers deserve nothing less.

Diana Limongi is a member of Community Board 1, Queens, NY

She is a parent leader, a Campaign Director at MomsRising.org and a Steering Committee Member of the Empire State Campaign for Child Care.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.

Annual Memorial Day ceremony held at Korean War memorial in Kissena Park

On Friday, May 26, the second annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Kissena Park brought live music, local dignitaries, veterans groups, a presentation of the Colors by members of the Francis Lewis High School JROTC, a flower-laying ceremony and more to the Flushing community.

Those in attendance included Councilwoman Sandra Ung, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, state Senator John Liu, veterans groups, local students, Boy Scout Troop 253 and others.

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

Many onlookers sporting patriotic attire waved Old Glory and cheered on the parade of military vehicles, veteran and military groups and marching bands led by Grand Marshal Vice Admiral Joanna M Nunan, the first female commander of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This year’s parade marshals were retired Master Sergeant Lawrence Badia and Vietnam veteran Richard Weinberg.