What Every Working Woman Needs

Back in the 1970's, when the talk around the executive
dining room table amongst my female colleagues and
myself - the four of us amid a sea of males - turned to
child care, the standing joke was; what every working
woman needs, is a wife at home to cook, clean and
watch the kids.  Each of us had paid dearly for the
privilege of becoming executives, sacrificing our home
life and time with our children to advance our careers.
Was it worth it?  It appeared that each of us had a different
view.  For me the answer was more than monetary,
though that didn't hurt, but the personal fulfillment of
reaching the top of one's profession was exhilarating.
It is the sense of giving your best and getting recognized
for it, that is incredibly satisfying.

Four female executives were about par for the course in
the 70s in most mid-size companies, even if two of those
were executive secretaries, one for the company President
and the other for the CEO.  After all it wasn't until 1972 when
Kathrine Graham became the first female CEO of a Fortune
500 company.  And women aren't doing that much better
today, women represent less than 20% of the Board members
of the top 1000 major corporations.  Why don't women climb
the corporate ranks at the same rate as men?  It's not that they
are lacking in talent or drive, no, the major root cause of women
being left behind in their careers is the lack of decent, affordable
child care.  This is the motherhood penalty.  When women are
forced to stay home with their children they cannot participate
fully in their chosen field, hence they are not going to have
equal career growth opportunities.

In today's economy, child care can cost as much as college
tuition in most states.  Infant day care costs range from
$5,000 to $17,000 a year, and pre-school day care ranges
from $4,450 to $12,000 per year.  Multiply that by two
or three, and even with a multiple child discount, it is
apparent that child care costs exceed the average net salary
of a mid-level executive.  It takes a gross pay of $36,000 to
cover the cost of $20,000 of day care, and that is assuming
the combined income for husband and wife is in the lowest
tax bracket.  Seventy percent of families spend 10% of
their gross income on child care and forty percent spend
more than 15% of the gross income.

Lack of decent, affordable child care is having a financial
impact on our economy.  New Census Bureau figures out today
show that in fifteen years, in 2034, the over-65 age group will
out number young  children .  This does not bode well, and it
can be traced back to the child care problem.  In a study of more
than 4000 participants with small children, 63% of parents
reported that they made workplace changes to be able to afford
child care; switching from fulltime to part time hours, and 25%
of women quit the their jobs to be stay-at-home caregivers.
The financial impact is more dire; 31% of families said they
went further into debt, 37% said they stopped adding to their
IRA retirement, 37% said they stopped paying off debt, and
44% said that child care costs precipitated major budget cuts.
The effect on the family unit is even harder; 36% said child
care cost was a cause  of relationship tensions, 39% said it
impacted their family planning, and 39% said they chose to
have fewer children.  This is the future of our economy,
who will fund the retirement of those over-65s?  If today's
parents can't afford to have children, we had better change
our immigration policies.

Access to good child care drives local economies as well as
overall economic growth.  Women who have decent child
care available are more likely to enter the workforce and
stay employed.  They are more likely to stay off welfare
 and more likely to pursue a higher education.  The long-
term benefit of subsidized child care is not just a 'women's
issue', its effect will be felt in the hear future, fifteen years
from now when Social Security and Medicare become
unsustainable budget items.  We will need a viable work-
force to support them.  We need the children.

Several of the Democratic candidates running for the
presidency have child care plan options, it behooves
you to check them out, and if your favorite candidate
doesn't have a plan, ask them why.

I'm just sayin'.