Monday, December 14, 2020: Examining the crisis of the child care system in the US

This Monday December 14th on KPFA Radio’s  "Women’s Magazine" we look at how racial Capitalism and Patriarchy have created a punitive underfunded child care system in the U.S. where the  the average hourly wage of child care workers is $10.72 per hour,  many of the women in need of child care are black and brown women and few get any government support in accessing child care.  This system is informed by the history of slavery in the U.S. where women’s job to reproduce the work force is required but never supported.  And the reality in our neoliberal economy is that many women especially women of color are the essential workers during covid and are working 2-3 jobs just to survive and yet rarely getting any government support for child care.

Today we talk to Marcy Whitebook from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley, Clarissa Douthard with Parent Voices Oakland and Loira Limbal director of the award winning documentary about child care “Through the Night” that shows how caregivers balance the demands of “women’s work” while navigating systemic racism, sexism and classism in the U.S. today. This beautiful film is available online at https://www.throughthenightfilm.com/ and is also showing at the Roxy Theater locally.

Click here to listen to the show. 59:50 min 

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Thank you 

Lisa Dettmer