Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but an illegal daycare was just shut down in the

[LiberalLoner]

house across the street from me. Reporters are here with their film crew, and I was interviewed by a reporter from the Washington Post. Turns out they found 7 infants still strapped in their car seats (at about 2:30 in the afternoon) and left completely neglected, locked in bathrooms, closets, etc.

None of the children appeared injured but all were badly neglected. There were 21 children all under the age of 4, watched only by two young women.

THIS is why women's issues matter. One example why anyway. It matters that our nation still does not have day care for all who need it, funded by taxpayers and inspected to make sure no neglect or abuse is happening.

Edited to add link to story:

http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2012/sep/12/police-raid-illegal-day-care-outside-dale-city-ar-2199896/#fbcomments

[ejpoeta]

1. two people watching 21 kids under 4??!! omg.

it's tough for a parent when there aren't a lot of choices either. Pay for licensed day care which is expensive or unlicensed care which still is expensive but a little less so. And how many of the parents knew what was going on? I am so glad that I could make the choice to stay home. Not many do and it is awful to have to take that chance as many do.

[grilled onions]

2. This Is Why Women Face Many Obstacles

DO they have kids(or more kids) when daycare is such a costly issue? If they stay home they can't afford to and then there are those who scream they are too lazy to work. Soooo they go to work and are then condemned for not staying home to raise their kids. They earn less so without help for daycare,food etc they can actually work themselves into a hole. Want a better job? That requires even more daycare and between that cost,college costs a woman can work herself into debt. Many are fortunate to have a spouse or SO that will help them but just as many do not. Many who do have a spouse/SO may also be dealing with being out of work or being under employed. While this may help with the daycare issue for now if he/she finds work the family is right back where they started.
It seems the ones who can help with the solutions are also causing the problems. They preach to a woman no matter what choices she makes. They condemn her for being single and in just as many cases if she chooses to leave an abuser/loser. If she has never been married she might as well pin that Scarlet Letter to her chest so they can point fingers and say she deserves what she gets. They keep female wages down. They slow down any chance of advancement. If she dare take an hour off for a sick child she loses points of approval at work and yet day care will not care for a sick child,risking infecting others. If the very ones who make a woman's choices such a problem would live 24 hours in her shoes they might see things a bit differently(although I doubt it since they choose to condemn with their eyes closed).

[BlueToTheBone]

3. This was brought to us by Bill Clinton

and his welfare to work program. Suffer in all ways.

[d_r]

4. this is not exclusively a women's issue

family issue

[LiberalLoner]

5. True, thank you. But it's something that matters and I wish we would address it as a country!

[d_r]

6. yes I agree 1000%

[redqueen]

7. No, not exclusively. Just overwhelmingly.

Until a majority of fathers take a much more active role in parenting their children, it will continue to be seen as a women's issue.

[d_r]

9. families have many structures

its a family issue, a society issue

single parent moms, dual parents, grand parents, even small # single fathers and dual fathers. even important issue for those with no children (e.g., bosses). majority of children are not in single mother homes (about 1/3 I think, about 5% in single father). This is important for the whole family system and the communituy. the ofeconomics of child care do not make sense. child care is largely poor quality. low ratios, low turnover, well trained and experinced caregivers are not cheap and can not be maintained without outside support, whetjer government, business, other. the state of child care in USA is a disgrace. this is an example of dangerous outlier, gazillions more examples of less horriffic but low quality.

[redqueen]

10. I agree with everything you've said.

I was just explaining why this issue (and others like it) will likely continue to be classified as a 'women's issue' for a long time to come. Some jobs are still considered the purview of one sex despite how far we have come, so it might be a very long time indeed. Then again perhaps there will be big enlightenment and a lot of this sexist nonsense will quickly fade. That'd be nice.

[d_r]

11. you are right it would be nice (NT)

[JustAnotherGen]

13. Well said

And mothers (from the framework of intact homes) still shoulder the greater burden of child rearing/decision making and household tasks. So it's definitely a women's issue. That's not to say that NOOOOO men shoulder the burden - but it remains the domain of woman.

[redqueen]

14. Yep, exactly.

The unbalanced division of household labor only makes this idea that childcare issues are a women's issue more entrenched.

[ismnotwasm]

8. Found this older article from a socialist website

Freedom Socialist • Vol. 29, No. 4 • August-September 2008

Far too many children left behind:
how the U.S. government has failed working parents

by Linda Averill

Anyone who says that women have arrived, or that there's no longer need for a workingclass feminist movement, hasn't considered the state of childcare in the United States. It is a barometer that paints a mean picture of deprivation for mothers.

The bare facts are startling enough. More than 60 percent of moms with children under 6 years of age are in the workforce today. Clearly, daycare is as essential to them as healthcare. Yet only a tiny number of employers provide daycare, and the quiet, daily crisis this creates for working parents goes unreported in the media — even though 11.3 million children under age five require such care.

Most other major industrialized countries provide some level of support, on the logical assumption that care and early education of children is a social good and human right. But not the U.S. Here, the government, business, and the rightwing push the ideology that child rearing is an entirely individual responsibility, in particular, the mother's. So tax monies and propaganda favor programs designed to push women back into the outmoded institutions of marriage and the nuclear family.

But women aren't interested in going backward. Whether by choice or necessity, the ranks of single moms and non-traditional partnerships are growing. Today's majority of women work while raising their kids. But due to lack of childcare, far too many moms are stuck in low-wage jobs, without the time or money to get education and training for better jobs. They are forced to rely on relatives, go into debt for decent care, work odd night shifts, or leave their children home alone. For the kids, it means a lousy second-class start in life.

http://www.radicalwomen.org/childcare.shtml

The whole article is worth reading.

When Daycare is an act of desperation, we really have a problem. I'm assuming these women were far more interested in making money than running a business that worked, for whatever reason. The parents placing their children were either duped, desperate or both. What a horrible thing to have happen.

[Iris]

12. Here's another interesting report to throw into the mix involving depression and stay at home moms

After interviewing 60,000 women, Gallup found that 28 percent of stay-at-home moms reported dealing with depression for much of the day, compared to that of 17 percent of working moms. The study also showed that stay-at-home moms deal with more stress, sadness and anger.

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2012/09/12/study-stay-at-home-moms-more-depressed-than-working-moms/


Would our culture ever admit that it's not exactly natural to isolate a woman and small children?