Forcing a choice

Should Massachusetts have to choose between child care and diversity?

In his column, “State lawmakers push for campaign child care funding,” Joe Battenfeld highlights one of our society’s most pressing issues: affordable child care. A study in 2016 found that Massachusetts has the second-highest costs in the nation for child care, at over $17,000 per year. That means a minimum wage earner in Massachusetts would have to work full time from January to October to afford day care for one child. Over 70 percent of the families we partner with at Parenting Journey live at or below the federal poverty level, and many of them struggle to find affordable child care.

Child care is a universal concern and when our society places the burden of paying for child care on individual families, we leave critical voices out of our workplaces, boardrooms and government. Some parents decide that it’s financially more feasible not to work, which not only stifles diversity, it perpetuates the cycle of parenting in poverty. As a society, we should champion equitable family policies that provide parents with the tools and support they need to build strong families. A strong family unit is the foundation of a vibrant healthy community.

Parenting Journey supports the exploration of all creative policy solutions that seek to alleviate the burden of child care costs for all families, because we believe in promoting equity and increased representation for women and people of color in the workforce, and yes, that includes running for political office too.

— Imari Paris Jeffries,

executive director, Parenting Journey, Hyde Park