Mirza

“The child care crisis is a solvable problem.” Excerpt from our illuminating conversation with Julie Kashen, a senior fellow and director for women’s economic justice at The Century Foundation. Kashen is a national go-to expert for policy makers and media on care policy. She has more than two decades of experience forwarding care-related issues in federal and state government and through the nonprofit sector, including helping to draft and build momentum for national legislation. Check out her recent report on the child care funding cliff here: https://lnkd.in/eqcNjaZK And stay tuned for the full #MirzaMovers episode this week! — — — Get in touch with Julie Kashen: Writings: https://lnkd.in/ehCawcsp Twitter: @juliekashen  Threads: Kashenj Bluesky: @kashenj.bsky.social Mirza Movers is a series of video interviews where we spotlight leaders, trailblazers and innovators in the caregiving industry. As part of this series we aim to share stories, insights and strategies for success in the care world. We hope to inspire, educate and shed light on the importance of caregiving and the kind of work that is being done to build a better world of care. Know someone who would be a great guest on Mirza Movers? Let us know in the comments!

The bad news? Child care costs are still rising faster than inflation. The good news? There are proven ways to fix it. This new Century Foundation report outlines what’s working, based on learnings from some key states.

Childcare 👏 is 👏 healthcare 👏

"Bringing public, private, and provider sectors all together in one space is the only way to really make progress." - Mel Faxon, COO and Co-Founder, Mirza. The historic National Child Care Innovation Summit, hosted in partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, united government and business leaders to underscore how critical childcare is to keeping parents in the workforce and driving economic growth in our communities. Watch more: https://lnkd.in/e2nUZ-FH

In case you missed last night's first presidential debate and the candidates' answers to the our broken care system, this pretty much sums it up: a whole lot of bickering and not a lot of real solutions proposed. Despite this disappointing but unsurprising result, having the child care crisis being addressed on this level is a huge testament to all the work that has been done and the people who have mobilized to get this issue talked about on the national stage. A huge congratulations to Moms First and their petition to get this question asked, and to every single mom, dad, parent, caregiver and advocate who have been fighting for this. This is only the beginning and we are standing right next to you.

Small businesses are struggling to hire and retain employees due to a lack of affordable and accessible child care. In a recent survey from Goldman Sachs, a majority of small business owners report that there are insufficient affordable child care programs in their communities: - 84% believe it has been difficult for working parents to afford high-quality child care programs for their children - More than a third (35%) say their employees have been forced to cut their work hours or forgo work entirely because of the cost and/or availability of child care. While there are some existing tax credits for businesses that provide child care benefits to their employees, most small businesses don't benefit and more government support is needed. Small business owners want candidates to discuss this issue during this election year, about 55% of those surveyed by Goldman Sachs said it has not been sufficiently addressed on the campaign trail. Clearly, child care is not just a family issue, it's a workforce issue that affects all employers and companies of all sizes. It's time we gave it the spotlight this crisis so desperately needs. https://lnkd.in/dJtF2bNv

Summer's here! While some of us are dreaming of beach days and BBQs, parents and caregivers are gearing up for the ultimate challenge: the dreaded "summer care gap." Let's talk about why summer is the most stressful season for many parents.

The rising cost of child care in New York City is driving families with young kids to pack up and leave the city, many in favor of states like Florida or New Jersey. Families with kids under six are leaving at twice the rate of others. While lower-income and Black and hispanic households have been disproportionately affected. https://lnkd.in/eXxXxdd5

The child care crisis is reaching new heights; the cost of care is outpacing inflation and average rent prices across the nation, making it hard for working families to keep up. Meanwhile, providers are struggling to make ends meet. It's clearer than ever this system is in need of serious federal investment. With the presidential elections coming on later this year, everything hangs in the balance. https://lnkd.in/eGe5UKvV

What's better than being a dad? How about being a dad in Sweden? 🇸🇪 It's Father's Day this weekend and there's one or two things we can learn from Sweden and how they support new fathers. Not only has it been 50 years since Sweden introduced state-funded parental leave, but there's a social expectation of dads taking leave too. 💡 Fathers in Sweden take the highest proportion of state-subsidised leave in the EU, according to recent OECD data. 💡 Only 18% of fathers who had children born in 2017 hadn't used any of their parental leave allowance https://lnkd.in/enWwNGdx