Haley Swenson has seen up close just how severely families are struggling to find and afford child care, even in the best of times. As Deputy Director of the Better Life Lab at New America, she directs research projects and writes on issues related to gender equality, caregiving, paid family leave, and the future of work. The pandemic has disrupted parents’ best laid plans for child care (already a patchwork of contingency plans before the virus), forcing them to make constant shifts, difficult decisions, and trade-offs around work, care, and life. Many, mostly women, are pulling back or stepping away from their jobs just to make things work. Haley is with us to talk about the financial strain and stress that America’s child care crisis is putting on families, child care providers, and employers. She also discusses policy solutions that would help fix our broken child care system, and how parents, private industry, and government can intervene and band together to create systemic change.

Listen to this episode to learn:-What businesses, government, and policy makers can do to make child care more accessible and affordable to American families – immediately and in the future-The pandemic’s impact on child care providers, and what’s at stake without additional direct financial support-Legislation and policies that would offer immediate relief to families and the economy, including extra paid family leave from employers, flexibility, and choice in care options-The stigma, conflict, and economic anxiety men face as caregivers, and what we can do to change it-How to get involved in changing child care policies at your workplace, in your community, and across the country-Resources to make the division of labor and caregiving at home more equitable (check out Better Life Lab Experiments to participate)

For more information, visit https://www.newamerica.org/better-life-lab/.