My husband and I both have full time jobs. But neither of us can work full time. We can't. We can work half days, and we can trade. But then the work piles up. We simply can't find a way to get it all done, and also care for (not to mention teach) our 3 children. This week, thank goodness, is school vacation. Especially with me being sick and exhausted, it is a good week for us to get caught up, but I still have hours of work everyday if I want to get caught up from last week and plan my classes for next week.
Then I start to feel angry and get on my soap box about how our society and culture treats parents and children and families. As a French teacher, I'm constantly contrasting my experience with friends in France. My French friend had 6 months of paid maternity leave, after which she had the right to work part time (for 80% pay) until her child was three. Why three? Because in France, the free, high quality preschool care doesn't start until age 3, so they need to give parents a bit of help (i.e. working part time) until free universal preschool kicks in. They also have supports like paid sick leave and, you know, universal health care, so they never have to worry about going into debt if their kid gets sick. Contrast that to here, where I am among the fortunate few who gets 6 weeks paid maternity leave (and only then if I've diligently saved up all my sick days), and an optional 6 weeks of unpaid time, after which I am expected to return to work full time and in the full capacity as before I had a child. There are no free, universal child care options, just super expensive ones that take most of my paycheck to cover. Neither are our children guaranteed any health care. I am lucky enough to have some paid sick leave, but so many parents who don't are faced with unpaid days to take their child to the doctor for routine check ups or visits when they are sick. It is no wonder that in families where parents have no paid sick leave, preventive care is often neglected, leading to ongoing and underlying health problems.
Add that to a general culture of constantly wanting to cut education funding, undervaluing teachers, few supports for child care providers (which are typically very low paid jobs with a high turnover rate), and it is clear that in our heartless capitalist society, we simply don't care about our kids (nor do we support the parents). The magnifying glass held over our stalled out society is shining a light on so many inequities, so many of our societal problems, so many injustices right now. Pay attention to them. And maybe in the grand scheme of things supporting our nations children, (and things like child care that support for parents and families), is only a small piece of the equity pie. But I am so frustrated by the message we are sending to every single parent of every school aged child: Work from home and continue to do all of your job and do it well, and also provide child care and education for children. You can do both, right? Or, for those who can't work from home and have lost their jobs: Just stay home, provide child care and education for your child, and therefore don't spend hours a day stressing about money or trying to find another job or calling unemployment 100 times a day or stand in line at the food bank or a million other things you might need to be doing to survive.
Since quarantine has started, places in France have rolled out a special hotline just for parents who need to vent or get advice on parenting. A special program for parents with children under 16 months that allows them to stay home and care for their children while still receiving a paycheck. These are just two quick examples I found.
Look, different societies will go about this isolation period in different ways, but just telling working parents to "figure it out", with no support, is a crystal clear reflection of our values as a society. In times of crisis, the film of presumption is peeled back and the true priorities of our government, of ourselves, are laid bare for all to see. Let's not forget what we are learning during this time.
Wednesday April 22nd
US cases: 840,625
VT cases: 818
Then I start to feel angry and get on my soap box about how our society and culture treats parents and children and families. As a French teacher, I'm constantly contrasting my experience with friends in France. My French friend had 6 months of paid maternity leave, after which she had the right to work part time (for 80% pay) until her child was three. Why three? Because in France, the free, high quality preschool care doesn't start until age 3, so they need to give parents a bit of help (i.e. working part time) until free universal preschool kicks in. They also have supports like paid sick leave and, you know, universal health care, so they never have to worry about going into debt if their kid gets sick. Contrast that to here, where I am among the fortunate few who gets 6 weeks paid maternity leave (and only then if I've diligently saved up all my sick days), and an optional 6 weeks of unpaid time, after which I am expected to return to work full time and in the full capacity as before I had a child. There are no free, universal child care options, just super expensive ones that take most of my paycheck to cover. Neither are our children guaranteed any health care. I am lucky enough to have some paid sick leave, but so many parents who don't are faced with unpaid days to take their child to the doctor for routine check ups or visits when they are sick. It is no wonder that in families where parents have no paid sick leave, preventive care is often neglected, leading to ongoing and underlying health problems.
Add that to a general culture of constantly wanting to cut education funding, undervaluing teachers, few supports for child care providers (which are typically very low paid jobs with a high turnover rate), and it is clear that in our heartless capitalist society, we simply don't care about our kids (nor do we support the parents). The magnifying glass held over our stalled out society is shining a light on so many inequities, so many of our societal problems, so many injustices right now. Pay attention to them. And maybe in the grand scheme of things supporting our nations children, (and things like child care that support for parents and families), is only a small piece of the equity pie. But I am so frustrated by the message we are sending to every single parent of every school aged child: Work from home and continue to do all of your job and do it well, and also provide child care and education for children. You can do both, right? Or, for those who can't work from home and have lost their jobs: Just stay home, provide child care and education for your child, and therefore don't spend hours a day stressing about money or trying to find another job or calling unemployment 100 times a day or stand in line at the food bank or a million other things you might need to be doing to survive.
Since quarantine has started, places in France have rolled out a special hotline just for parents who need to vent or get advice on parenting. A special program for parents with children under 16 months that allows them to stay home and care for their children while still receiving a paycheck. These are just two quick examples I found.
Look, different societies will go about this isolation period in different ways, but just telling working parents to "figure it out", with no support, is a crystal clear reflection of our values as a society. In times of crisis, the film of presumption is peeled back and the true priorities of our government, of ourselves, are laid bare for all to see. Let's not forget what we are learning during this time.
Wednesday April 22nd
US cases: 840,625
VT cases: 818
Comments
Post a Comment