SUNDAY, MARCH 6 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE G3
his warehouse position early in
the pandemic, it took Carlos Rive-
ra months to find another job for
himself and a day care for his
daughter. The single father finally
locked down both in late Decem-
ber — but then his daughter got
sick. Between repeated illnesses
and covid-related day care clo-
sures, he missed so much work
that last m onth he was fired from
his $16-an-hour job at a dessert
warehouse.
Now he’s back to searching for
work, though most warehouses
require 10- or 12-hour shifts, mak-
ing them impossible to balance
with day care. Rivera’s electricity
was recently shut off and he owes
$8,000 in back rent on his apart-
ment in Berks County, Pa.
“I’m a single dad. I don’t have
parents, I don’t have a wife or
girlfriend,” the 33-year-old said.
“It’s me, my kid and day care.”
While the pandemic prompted
many white-collar employers to
offer more flexible schedules or
backup child-care options, ex-
perts say lower-wage employers
have been slower to respond.
In Emporia, Kan., Paul Brose -
mer says he sometimes has no
choice but to take his children,
ages 3 and 8, along to his job at a
land surveying company. He’s
used up all of his paid time off and
is now stuck taking unpaid leave
whenever day care shuts down.
The child-care facility charges
$500 a month regardless of
whether his toddler can go. To
cover costs, Brosemer takes on
bartending and warehouse shifts
after his wife gets home from her
job at a car dealership.
“There are whole weeks where
we don’t even get a paycheck,” the
36-year-old said. “I’m stressed out
and my bank account is not what
it was a year ago because of all
these quarantines. You just want
to scream every day.”$18-an-hour gig as a medical cou-
rier so he can accommodate the
seemingly endless day care and
school closures for his 2- and
7-year-old children.
His daughter’s day care, which
costs $342 a week, has closed
down three times since Decem-
ber, for at least a week each time,
he said. A few weeks ago, he got a
call just as he was starting his
morning deliveries. A teacher had
tested positive for the coronavi-
rus, which meant he’d have to
pick up his daughter within the
hour.
“It’s like a gut punch every
time,” said Flanagan, 42. “The last
thing I want to hear is, ‘Kevin,
you’re unreliable so we’ve got to
let you go.’ It makes me feel like I
can’t look for a job anytime soon.”
A record number of Americans
were out of work in January be-
cause they either had covid or
were caring for someone who did,
according to census data. Beyond
those short-term absences, econ-
omists worry that such disrup-
tions could lead to more perma-
nent job losses and further chip
away at the labor force participa-
tion rate.
So far, caregiving concerns
have accounted for roughly one-
third of the decrease in labor force
participation during the pandem-
ic, with outsize impacts on par-
ents with school-aged children,
according to a November report
by the Federal Reserve’s Board of
Governors.
“When lower-wage workers
miss a lot of work, the big concern
is not only that it’s creating per-
sonal hardships for them, but that
it may be disconnecting them
from work,” said Stevenson of the
University of Michigan. “We need
to get everybody back into the
labor force to fully recover. We
want to keep people working.”
After being furloughed fromper week during the last school
year, compared with insignificant
impacts for their more-educated
counterparts, according to re-
searchers at Washington State
University.
“It’s a very familiar theme, in
that the pandemic has intensified
preexisting inequalities,” said
Nancy Folbre, an economist and
retired professor at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst, where
her research has focused on gen-
der and care work. “We’ve locked
ourselves into a problem that is
amplifying itself.”
The Biden administration has
flagged affordable child care as
one of its biggest priorities. Last
year’s American Rescue Plan Act
included $39 billion for child-
care funding, including grants for
child-care providers and subsi-
dies to help low-income families
pay for day care. Biden’s Build
Back Better plan, which is stalled
in the Senate, also includes mea-
sures such as free universal pre-
school for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Kevin Flanagan of Seekonk,
Mass., lost his $50,000-a-year job
at a car dealership early in the
pandemic. Two years later, he’s
taken a significant pay cut for anpaid leave, which means there’s
no money coming in when they’re
not working. Two weeks ago, her
entire household tested positive
for the coronavirus on the same
day they found out their water
and gas would be shut off for
nonpayment.
“Sometimes I have to ask my
parents for help, but they’re pret-
ty broke, too,” the 24-year-old
said.
Pandemic-era child-care dis-
ruptions haven fallen heaviest on
those without family or resources
to lean on. Studies show that a
lack of child care is most likely to
hurt mothers, particularly if their
children are younger than 6. In
the first year of the crisis, working
mothers were more likely to scale
back on work or quit their jobs
because of child-care disruptions
than fathers were, according to
research published in the JAMA
Health Forum.
Parents with less than a college
degree — who tend to have fewer
work-from-home options or the
means to find alternative care —
were also more likely to be im-
pacted by child-care disruptions,
studies show. Less-educated par-
ents lost about two hours of workmuch in savings or don’t have
access to low-cost credit. Having
to take any unpaid leave can im-
pose real hardship.”
In interviews with nearly two
dozen parents of varying incomes
who either don’t get paid leave or
have exhausted all of it, all said
they have faced significant coro-
navirus-related child-care disrup-
tions since December. Many de-
scribed going without pay for sev-
eral weeks and, in some cases,
having to quit altogether to care
for their children. Others said
they were putting off job searches
or sticking to gig work because of
child-care uncertainties.
To make ends meet, parents
working lower-income jobs said
they were relying more on credit
cards, taking on additional room-
mates or picking up extra jobs,
such as bartending or restaurant
delivery, on evenings and week-
ends.
Watland, the mother in S outh
Dakota, has begun selling her
belongings — including a dia-
mond necklace she got for high
school graduation, a laptop and a
Puma jacket — on eBay. Neither
Watland nor her fiance, who
works in food service, receivesDay-care closures and other
child-care disruptions increased
sharply from December to Janu-
ary, as cases of the omicron vari-
ant peaked across the country, but
they were most common in
households that make less than
$25,000 a year, data from the
Census Household Pulse survey
shows.
In the first two weeks of Janu-
ary, 30 percent of households
with children under 11 reported
child-care disruptions in the past
four weeks, up from 22 percent in
December — as children got sick
or quarantined after coronavirus
exposure, or child-care centers
shut down over outbreaks or lack
of staff.
When day cares closed, lower-
income families were more likely
to resort to unpaid leave or to quit
jobs altogether. That’s in contrast
to higher-income families, which
often made do by using paid vaca-
tion and sick leave, supervising
their children while working or
cutting back on work hours.
Households making $50,000 or
less a year were far more likely to
experience a pay cut than those
making $100,000 or more a year.
Plus, only a third of the coun-
try’s lowest-paid workers had ac-
cess to paid sick leave as of March
2021, compared with 95 percent
of workers in the top 10 percent of
wages, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
Mia Rodriguez, who recently
started a $10-an-hour job at the
day care her daughter attends in
Wichita, doesn’t get paid sick
leave. So when her 1-year-old test-
ed positive for the coronavirus in
December, she had to take off a
week unpaid while continuing to
pay for child care.
The 25-year-old got a $200 cash
advance from a credit card to
cover her daughter’s day care fees
that week. She also struggled to
buy diapers and formula.
“It was like, dang, I wish I
didn’t have to use credit card
debt, but what are you going to
do?” said Rodriguez, who asked to
be identified by her maiden name
because she fears repercussions
at work. “It’s very hard when
you’re not getting a paycheck but
still have to pay the bills.”
Inequities in child-care disrup-
tions are another example of how
the pandemic recession has wid-
ened inequality nationwide. Low-
er-income, and often service-sec-
tor, workers weathered higher job
losses and more exposure to the
virus in those jobs. They also
experience the problems of soar-
ing inflation more deeply, re-
search shows.
The disparities in how families
deal with child-care disruptions
underscore the lopsided safety
net in the United States, said
Betsey Stevenson, an economics
professor at the University of
Michigan and former Obama
White House economic adviser.
The country’s highest-paid work-
ers are also the most likely to
receive other protections such as
sick leave, vacation time and
health insurance, she said. And if
they do need to borrow money,
wealthier Americans typically get
more favorable terms.
“The issue isn’t just compensa-
tion,” Stevenson said. “It’s also
that we provide more stability
and resources for higher-income
people. It’s much harder to
smooth things out when you’re
low-income and don’t have as
CHILD CARE FROM G1
Child-care closings exacerbate parental income disparities
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POSTTotals add to more than 100% because respondents could select multiple options.Lower-income families more likely to lose income
during child-care disruptionsPercent of households where an adult took one of the following actions while
child care was unavailable, by 2020 household incomeOtherCut work hoursSupervised while
workingPaid leaveDid not look for jobLost jobLeft jobUnpaid leaveUnder $50KLost
income010203040%$50K to $99K010203040%$100K and up01020304050%Kept
incomeUnclearJESSE BURKE FOR THE WASHIGTON POST
Kevin Flanagan with his daughter, Meredith. Her day care, which costs $342 a week, has closed
down three times since December, for at least a week each time, Flanagan said.“We’re getting these incredible
growth numbers in GDP,” Saad
said.
Biden made a passionate plea
to Congress to act in unity for
the sake of the people living
paycheck to paycheck.
“Vice President Harris and I
ran for office ... with a new
economic vision for America,” he
said. “Invest in America. Educate
Americans. Grow the workforce.
Build the economy from the
bottom up and the middle out,
not from the top down. Because
we know that when the middle
class grows, the poor have a way
up and the wealthy do very well.”
Biden’s not wrong.
The problem is, even if
Democrats keep control of
Congress after the midterms,
he’ll still have a difficult battle
getting his wish list of policies
that could boost not just
consumer confidence but the
financial lives of the most
vulnerable Americans.so no one has to raise a family in
poverty.”
l “Increase Pell Grants.”
Strengthening the economy
this year is what 71 percent of
Americans desire and it should
be a top priority for Biden and
our congressional leaders,
according to a poll by the Pew
Research Center.
But how likely is Biden to get
major economic measures
passed in a Congress gridlocked
by partisanship?
You would have better odds of
hitting a big jackpot at a slot
machine in Las Vegas.
And we most definitely can
forget about Biden getting much
of anything through Congress if
the Democrats lose control of the
House and Senate in the
midterms.
The Gallup and Pew polls
show Americans’ continued
concern about the inability of
our political leaders to support
bipartisan legislation that could
improve people’s lives
financially.
Things could get better if
Congress could agree on some
fixes. After all, the economy is
growing, Saad pointed out in an
interview. The U.S. economy
grew by 5.7 percent in 2021, the
strongest growth in close to 40
years.l “Cut the cost of prescription
drugs.”
l “Let Medicare negotiate the
price of prescription drugs.”
l “Cut energy costs for families
an average of $500 a year by
combating climate change.”
l “Provide investment tax
credits to weatherize your home
and your business to be energy-
efficient and get a tax credit for
it.”
l “Lower the price of electric
vehicles, saving another $80 a
month that you’re not going to
have to pay at the pump.”
l “Cut the cost of child care.
Folks, if you live in a major city
in America, you pay up to
$14,000 a year for child care per
child. ... Middle-class and
working folks shouldn’t have to
pay more than 7 percent of their
income to care for their young
children. My plan would cut the
cost of child care in half for most
families and help parents,
including millions of women
who left the workforce during
the pandemic because they
couldn’t afford child care, to be
able to get back to work.”
l “More affordable housing.”
l “Pass the Paycheck Fairness
Act and paid leave.”
l “Raise the minimum wage to
$15 an hour.”
l “Extend the child tax credit,were getting better or getting
worse, 70 percent of Americans
said c onditions were worsening.
“While Americans have a
variety of reasons for feeling
things are off track, on the
whole, the continuation of the
pandemic, ongoing inflation,
and partisan frustrations seem
to be at the heart of their
discontent,” Lydia Saad, director
of U.S. social research at Gallup,
said in a report about the
findings.
I listened as Biden ran down
his agenda to help struggling
Americans. I couldn’t help but
feel it was like the Christmas
lists my kids used to hand me
before the holidays. It was long
and optimistically contained
things they were not likely to
get.
“The pandemic has been
punishing,” Biden said. “And so
many families are living
paycheck to paycheck, struggling
to keep up with the rising cost of
food, gas, housing and so much
more.”
Biden rattled off a number of
things his administration wants
to accomplish:
l “We’re going to provide
affordable high-speed Internet
for every American — rural,
suburban, urban and tribal
communities.”Ukrainians are literally fighting
for their lives. So what that the
Dow Jones industrial average or
S&P dips and dives, when over
time — based on past
performance — investors still
come out okay when geopolitical
events rock the market?
We get to live another day
without bombs dropping on our
homes, government buildings
and businesses. Tanks aren’t
rolling through our streets.
On the day President Biden
gave his State of the Union
address, Gallup released its
monthly report that takes the
pulse of how Americans are
feeling about various issues,
including the economy.
People are troubled.
Just 21 percent of Americans
said they were satisfied with the
way things are going — and that
was in the first two weeks of
February, before Russia invaded
Ukraine.
Gallup found the economy
was of great concern to
Americans, with 42 percent
describing U.S. economic
conditions as “poor.” Inflation
was ranked as one of the most
important economic problems
facing the country.
When asked whether they
thought the economic conditions
in the United States as a wholeI’m very
conflicted about
the state of our
economy.
Personally, my
retirement
portfolio is still
doing quite well,
even factoring in
recent turbulence
in the stock
market. My
account balances are down now,
but the past two years of gains
far outweigh recent losses. I have
a stable roof over my head and
an affordable mortgage with a
2.75 percent interest rate. Our
food bill is up, but we can handle
the increase.
Despite all that, I’m feeling
nervous about the economy and
its impact on others. I’m worried
about the folks most affected by
inflation, the folks whose rents
are skyrocketing. Many people
can’t afford the rise in food
prices. Because of pandemic-
related day-care closings, some
parents are losing pay or
struggling to stay in the
workforce.
Then there’s the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, which is
threatening the U.S. and world
economies. But saying that
makes me feel guilty, selfish
even. We have peace here, while
Biden has big plans to help struggling Americans. The obstacles seem bigger.
Michelle
Singletary
THE COLOR
OF MONEY
Source: Census Bureau ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POSTLow-income households face more child-care
disruptionsPercent of households with children under 11 where child-care arrangements
were disrupted in the last four weeks, by 2020 income010203040%Aug. ‘21 Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. ‘2236%
Under $25K
30%
U.S. totalOther income groupsIf you have a personal finance
question for Michelle, please call 1-
855-ASK-POST (1-855-275-7678). Her
award-winning column The Color of
Money is syndicated by The
Washington Post News Service and
Syndicate and carried in dozens of
newspapers.