Families, child care workers, and advocates joined together on Monday to celebrate both carers and parents, and to call on Rep. Jared Golden, whose wife recently gave birth to the couple’s second child, to support federal funding for child care.
The event was co-hosted by Maine People’s Alliance (of which Beacon is a project) and the YWCA Central Maine as part of a national “Day Without Child Care” advocating for child care to be more affordable, accessible, and equitable.
As parents picked up their children from the YWCA’s child care and after-school programs, they shared stories of what child care enables them to do. Lewiston resident Cyndi Tucci, whose son attends the organization’s after-school program, said balancing her life would be very difficult without child care.
“I’m a single parent, so it really gives me the opportunity to work and take care of my family,” she said. “I never would have been able to get my degree without child care.”
Dozens of other parents said their jobs are why they need reliable child care, while also recognizing that some child care options cost more than what they make. They said parents need more affordable options, like the YWCA.
“A lot of times parents work two jobs to afford child care,” Tucci said. “Paying for child care is like having a second mortgage.”
As children colored and had their faces painted, parents, child care workers, and community members took action. Maine People’s Alliance and the YWCA circulated a petition urging Rep. Golden to be a “child care champion” and support federal funding to make child care more affordable, as well as to ensure child care workers are paid more.
The petition signatures will be delivered to Rep. Golden, along with a card signed by event attendees congratulating him and his wife on their new baby. A representative from Rep. Golden’s office attended the event.
Amanda Hatch, the chief program and impact officer at YWCA Central Maine, said child care needs to be funded as a public issue.
“Here at the YWCA, we are already seeing the impacts of the investments the Maine legislature made in the child care sector this session, including the wage supplements for child care employees—but we know there is still work to be done at the state and federal levels,” she said.
Hatch added, “That’s why we continue to find opportunities like this one to both celebrate those child care sector workers who show up for our families each and every day, while also demanding the systemic changes and supports needed to create and sustain a thriving child care sector that works for everyone.”
Carrie Jadud, a community organizer with Maine People’s Alliance, agreed, saying child care workers are “the workforce behind the workforce.” Without them, she said, many parents wouldn’t be able to work, but that too many child care workers are struggling to earn enough to provide for their own families.
“Nothing happens in our economy without child care,” Jadud said. “It’s crucial infrastructure, just like the roads and bridges people drive on to get to work, and we need a level of investment that reflects that.”
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