Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
DAY CARE DILEMMA PUTS REAL CRIMP ON FAMILIES
Average Chester County family spends over $ 11,000 a year on child care, more than any other in Pa.
Getting a rambunctious 5- year- old to keep his mask on can be a herculean task. But keeping noses andmouths covered at all times is not the only challenge the pandemic has created for parents.
Even before the COVID- 19 pandemic reshaped Americans’ social, professional, and personal lives, childcare was a source of stress for millions of working parents across the nation.
As schools have switched to virtual instruction, children are home more than ever, and as a result, requiremore attention from their parents. The economic downturn has also
presented families with financial challenges that can make paying for childcare evenmore burdensome.
The average ChesterCounty family spends over $ 11,000 a year on childcare, which is more than any other county in the state, according to a recent study. These high costs are forcing local parents to reevaluate their childcare situations.
Cheri Perry is a workplace culture expert at Total Merchant Concepts credit card processing company. She sees flexible childcare as an essential part of creating a positive workplace culture, especially with the challenges working parents are facing right now.
“The businesses that are responding well are really taking an aggressive approach at having an open conversation and dialogue with their team,” she said. She added that businesses should avoid forcing parents to choose between theirwork and family responsibilities.
Accommodating parents can require some creativity. For instance, some employees bring their children to work, so TMC has created a school area within the office for these children to do their remote learning.
Local employers, like Chester County Hospital, have expanded their dialogue about childcare during the pandemic. The hospital provides information about childcare options, and employees are encouraged to discuss their needs
with their managers, according to Nancy Canfield, the hospital’s benefits coordinator.
“We take it very seriously,” said Canfield, “We’re here to serve our community, serve our patients, and we are very supportive of and flexiblewith our employees.” The hospital also allows some of its employees to work remotely when possible to care for their children.
Hillendale Elementary School in Chadds Ford has also been flexible with working parents during the pandemic, according to Amanda O’Neil, a fourth grade teacher there. The school has allowed employees to take family medical leave, and those who are still teaching can work from home for up to four days a week.
Evenwith these accommodations, O’Neil has elected to take unpaid time off to be home with her daughters, Ava, a fourth- grader, and
Quinn, a second- grader.
O’Neil is available to help both daughters for the whole six- hour school day, about half of which she spends on synchronous Zoom calls with her daughters and their teachers. Her younger daughter needs more hands- on help navigating the technology of virtual learning.
While shewas still teaching last spring, O’Neil said she struggled “to give both parties of people— my own students andmy children— the attention they deserve.” Because of this difficulty, she decided to become her daughters’ full time childcare provider this year.
Worries about her children bringing home the virus, more demanding school schedules than last spring, and the less flexible nature of her husband’s job also factored into her decision to take time off.
“I didn’t know if I could do both jobs as effectively as I would want to,” she said. O’Neil wanted to “give 100 percent” to both teaching and parenting, but did not feel that was possible without taking time off.
For O’Neil, this change has been more than just logistically difficult. “This would’ve been my 23rd year, so it’s a bit of an identity,” she said, “I was always a teacher and then a mom, but obviously, I have to put my kids first.”
As Chester County parents settle into the new normal of the pandemic, perennial concerns about childcare remain. Working parents must juggle their jobs and their family obligations, often with ever fewer options than before.
During these unpredictable and challenging times, individuals and organizations alike have been forced to make substantial changes to their childcare practices. Said Perry: “Crisis changes everything.”