WORKING MOTHERS IN A TIGHT SQUEEZE
Mendon tragedy highlights day care crisis
It didn’t take long for people on social media to lash out at the mother who found her 10-weekold baby boy unresponsive when she arrived to pick him up at a Mendon day care.
“A ten week old should not be in daycare,” one person wrote.
That comment really got under my skin.
Let’s face it, most maternity leave laws and employer policies don’t provide enough pay and aren’t nearly long enough. No sooner is your precious bundle of joy learning to smile and you’re heading back to work. Day care costs in Massachusetts are staggering — in fact, they’re the highest in the nation. The average yearly cost to place an infant in child care full-time is $17,082, according to Child Care Aware of America.
Add that to the high cost of living and it’s no wonder that both parents work in 69 percent of all Massachusetts families with children under the age of 6, according to the Boston-based Strategies for Children.
The baby in the Mendon case was being cared for at the Bethany Church Day Care Center, which was not licensed with the state to care for infants. There were no signs of foul play. The baby was pronounced dead at Milford Regional Medical Center Tuesday.
“I have no idea what this woman’s situation is, but I could very well imagine her being in a pinch because one of the big challenges is the scarcity of infant day care in Massachusetts,” said Christine Koh, a mother of two and editor of Boston Mamas blog.
Boston City Council President Michelle Wu, who is expecting her second child, championed the 2015 paid parental leave law for all city employees, which gives nonunion employees up to six weeks’ paid maternity leave. The first two weeks is full pay, followed by two weeks at 75 percent pay and two weeks at half pay. City Council employees get six weeks of full pay.
Wu said it’s not enough and the minimum at all organizations should be 12 weeks of full pay. But it’s a start. And paid parental leave, Wu said, should extend to all city workers.
“Our society makes it incredibly difficult for working parents,” said Wu. “Investing in sensible, paid parental leave policies and affordable, quality child care is the highest return we could get. We have a lot more work to do.”
Massachusetts law allows women up to eight weeks of unpaid maternity leave.
Federal law — if a working woman qualifies — allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave and your employer is required to hold your job.
Lucky us.