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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Post-America Moms Club Helping Families Start Over in Europe
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. One wrong turn in Mallorca, and Suset Laboy was texting 70 other mothers for help. She was driving her four-year-old twin daughter to school earlier this year when she swerved to avoid a serious crash, but still got rear-ended. She was fine. Her daughter was fine. But her heart was racing, and she had no idea what to do next in a country with rules she didn't fully understand. Back in Brooklyn, where she'd lived for 14 years before moving abroad, she would've known exactly how to handle it. In Spain, she opened WhatsApp. The thread she turned to wasn't just any group chat—it was Mother Euro, a growing community and relocation service founded by two American moms to support women who've left the U.S. behind in search of something better. Part concierge, part lifeline, Mother Euro connects moms with everything from visa lawyers to pediatricians to the best iced coffee in town. The network currently includes 80 members, and while most are based in Spain, the U.K. is their second-largest hub, with plans to expand across other European markets. 'I didn't feel comfortable living in the U.S. anymore,' says Alice Kim, an American citizen and Mother Euro member who moved from California back to her birthplace, Seoul, before settling in Barcelona with her husband and two-year-old son. 'I was worried about the political climate. My friends raising their kids there would talk about gun violence and how the kids would have to prepare for breathing without their chest moving. Our American dream really got shattered.' Kim isn't alone. A growing number of Americans are considering or actively planning to relocate to Europe, driven by concerns over political and social issues, including racial equity and LGBTQ+ rights. Relocation firms have reported increased inquiries, citing political polarization, threats to personal rights, and safety concerns. Applications for British citizenship by Americans have reached record highs. The day after Trump's second election, Google searches for how to leave the U.S. spiked by over 1,500 percent. Even celebrities have made exit plans: Rosie O'Donnell moved to Ireland in March. Ellen DeGeneres reportedly relocated to the U.K. last fall, as did Courtney Love. We're not just a relocation service. We're a village. We want to build each other up. For mothers in particular, the push factors are hard to ignore. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries, and since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, access to life-saving care can depend on your zip code. Meanwhile, child care costs have soared—averaging $11,582 annually, according to Child Care Aware of America—and in many places, the cost of caring for two children now exceeds the cost of housing. So last fall two American moms, Emily San Jose, 34, and Maggie Gavilán, 32, launched Mother Euro, a membership-based community designed to help women navigate the move abroad and build a life once they're there. Aspiring members pay $1,500 a year for full relocation support, while Resident members who are already living abroad pay $500 annually to join a network of local moms and access the group's resources, meetups, and ongoing assistance. It's part WhatsApp hive mind, part on-the-ground network for everything from kids' weird rashes to the best local cafés to hit with toddlers in tow. It's also where a member can seek advice when, say, she's rear-ended in a new country and not sure how insurance works in Spain. 'We're not just a relocation service. We're a village,' says Gavilán. 'We want to build each other up. A traditional relocation specialist is going to be, you know, the guy that your dad's company set you up with. He's gonna show you, you know, the best moving company. And we have all those things, but we bring in the emotional factor that we know is so important as women and as moms.' In addition to real estate agents and top-notch immigration lawyers, Mother Euro connects members with nutritionists, multilingual therapists, and barre studios. When I mention someone who moved to Spain to access IVF, which is significantly cheaper there than in the U.S., Gavilán jumps in: 'Do we have a partner for IVF? Not yet. But if you need one tomorrow? We'll find them.' Most moms hear about Mother Euro through San Jose, the Madrid-based cofounder better known as @MamaInMadrid. The Oregon native moved to Spain immediately after college, with a plan to stay for a year, make money as an au pair, and travel in her free time. One month later, she met her Spanish husband. They eventually moved back to the Pacific Northwest for five years, but returned to Spain in 2021 to be closer to family. Online, San Jose is poised, mixing aspirational ease with dry humor in near-perfect Castilian Spanish. Take, for example, the blackout in Spain and Portugal in April. In a post about it on Instagram, San Jose tells the camera she was in the gym when it happened—aspirational!—and says, 'I went into flight or fight mode. My husband says that that is a very American reaction, to sort of catastrophize things. Fine with me if that's going to be my reaction in this situation.' Relatable! Among 30-something U.S. expats, San Jose is a bit of a celebrity. Proof: When I told a Spanish acquaintance that I was interviewing American moms in Madrid, she squeed, 'Do you know MamaInMadrid?!' Further proof: Gavilán, Mother Euro's cofounder, DMed San Jose last year when she was considering moving to Madrid, too. She has dual citizenship and wanted to be closer to her family. 'I saw this really pretty blonde girl living in Spain, speaking fluent Spanish, and I was like, maybe she'll be my friend,' she says. They met for drinks the next time Gavilán visited, shut down the bar, and took a few blurry two a.m. selfies. Gavilán got pregnant soon after, and started seriously planning her family's relocation. 'Raising children and even just being a pregnant woman in the States, transparently, felt really scary,' she says. 'So I wanted to give my kids and myself, selfishly—and I can be selfish—a better life.' Of course, moving to Europe isn't always as romantic as it sounds. There are visas to secure, cultural nuances to decode, and costs to consider. (Gavilán estimates relocation costs around $15,000, though it varies widely.) As she navigated her own move, friends and strangers began reaching out for advice. 'I'm telling you, I was on the phone until two a.m. sometimes trying to help moms with finding the right attorney or with the right education consultant because they didn't understand the nuances between the US and EU system and how that would work, which, I didn't either when I was figuring it out,' she says. That's when she realized there was a real need for a service that could guide women through it—not just logistically, but emotionally. 'People want to do this,' she says. 'But they want to feel as though they're in community with somebody doing it, either at the same time, or who has already done it—and also somebody who they want to hang out with.' Raising children and even just being a pregnant woman in the States, transparently, felt really scary. Though most of the Mother Euro action happens online, the group hosted its first IRL event in April: a dinner party in Madrid to celebrate the official launch. Thirty women flew in from Costa Brava, Mallorca, and London.'There were so many badass women there,' says Kim, who traveled from Barcelona to attend. During an icebreaker, members were first instructed to 'step in' if they were born in the U.S. For the second prompt, they were asked to take a step in if they were a business owner. 'I think three-fourths of the room stepped in,' she says. 'After that I was like, I'm going to have to step up my game.' She sat next to Heather, an American mom who's lived in Europe for 17 years, and peppered her with questions about schooling. Heather insisted on local schools over international ones. 'Now I'm leaning local too,' Kim says. 'Because more and more I feel like I don't want my son to go to a U.S. college after living all his adolescence in Europe. It would feel like a back step.' Mother Euro is expensive, on top of all the other costs that go into moving your life somewhere else, and it's not not luxury service. But it's one that 200-plus women are willing to pay; that's how many applicants Gavilán says they've been receiving per month. One aspiring member, who is planning a move to Madrid after her second child is born, says her membership has already been worth it. She explained that it was especially helpful for navigating Spain's Beckham Law, which allows foreign workers to pay significantly less in income tax than Spanish citizens, and far less than they would in the U.S. Still, upending your life to relocate to Europe isn't a panacea, nor is it easy. Moving abroad is a privilege and a struggle—both things can be true. Even the founders are still figuring things out as they go along: Gavilán is currently weighing public versus private hospitals in Madrid for her C-section; Laboy misses the diversity of Brooklyn. But for Laboy, the hardest part has been leaving her sister and parents behind. 'It feels sad, and at the same time, it feels like the right choice for us at this very moment,' she says, tears forming. 'It's very important for me to recognize that this move is a privilege that not everybody has.' 'Still,' she adds, 'living here feels like an exhale.' This community really helps me mentally. Mother Euro affirms something mothers around the world have always known: When women are part of the conversation, everyone wins. '[Our launch dinner party] reminded us that mothers will travel near and far to be seen, supported, and celebrated by their communities,' Gavilán recapped over email after the event. 'Listening to everyone share their stories on why they moved, what they're seeking, and how they're building their lives abroad—it was a powerful affirmation of why we created this space.' It also proves that no matter where you are, whether you're figuring out tax residency or just daycare culture, motherhood still takes a village. Like when Kim's son came home from his Spanish daycare with a goodie bag. 'I was like, 'Wait, was there a birthday party I didn't know about? Am I missing something? Do I need to send a gift?'' So she hit up the Mother Euro chat, where San Jose explained that in Spain, the birthday kid gifts their friends—instead of the other way around. The same goes for adults: if you host the dinner, you pick up the check. 'This community really helps me mentally,' Kim says. She's since made a real-life friend in Barcelona through Mother Euro, and the two are going to an Imagine Dragons concert this summer. 'Making friends when you're older is harder, but within Mother Euro, we all have so many commonalities that it just helps us click. I'm confident that whoever is in it shares the same values.' And after arriving in Spain in February, she hasn't looked back.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
KinderCare offers free day of care for military families
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – KinderCare Learning Centers is offering a free day of care for military families in honor of National Month of the Military Child. Families of any branch can redeem the free day between April 15 and May 16. 'We're proud to support and show our gratitude towards the families who serve our country through our free day for military families,' said Dr. Marquita Davis, Chief Academic Officer for KinderCare. 'The nuances of the military lifestyle impact families as much as individuals serving. Military families face unique challenges when seeking reliable and consistent child care amidst frequent relocations and transitions.' Vietnam veteran finds PTSD relief with RTM therapy KinderCare and Child Care Aware of America have a partnership that offers active duty families child care tuition assistance. Being a national company means military families can easily switch between centers as they relocate. There is also a subsidy program for active-duty members of the Coast Guard; National Park Services; Customs and Border Protection; and General Services Administration employees who are not near on-base care. Air Force Museum pauses social media activity 'Access to affordable off-base childcare for military families with young children is critical,' said Francisco Jamison, Vice President of Military Programs and Executive Director of Respite Care of America. 'Child Care Aware of America knows that child care is a mission readiness factor and a force multiplier.' To find KinderCare centers in the Miami Valley or to sign up for the free day, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
21-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
'No mute button for a toddler.' How thousands of parents juggle remote work and parenting
'No mute button for a toddler.' How thousands of parents juggle remote work and parenting Show Caption Hide Caption Workers prefer flexibility as companies roll out return-to-office mandates Nearly a quarter of workers say their companies rolled out a return-to-office mandate in the past year, despite a preference for remote, hybrid work. Scripps News Alisha Horton said her best work gets done at 5:30 each morning, while her baby and toddler are still sleeping. When 11-month-old Octavia and 3-year-old Matthew wake up between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., Horton feeds them breakfast and prepares for her morning meeting. Hopefully Octavia is back to sleep by then, Horton said, and Matthew is occupied with a quiet activity like Play-Doh or coloring. But 'toddlers are toddlers,' she said, and it doesn't always go the way she plans. As a work-from-home parent of two, Horton said virtual meetings are her biggest challenge. 'I'm trying to have a conversation with an adult about something at work, and he's kind of tugging on my arm. 'Mommy, can I do this? Mommy, can I do that?'' Horton, a consultant for an insurance company, said. 'He's used to having me available to him at all times.' Horton, who lives near Nashville, is one of thousands of parents who work from home without traditional childcare. With childcare costs skyrocketing at nearly twice the pace of inflation – and childcare for two kids outpricing rent in all 50 states, according to a 2023 report by the nonprofit Child Care Aware of America – many families are staying afloat financially by keeping their kids at home during remote work. In a series of surveys by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2024, about 1 in 10 adults with kids said their household did not have childcare because options were "closed, unavailable, unaffordable" or unsafe. Of those parents, nearly one-third said they supervised their kids while working. This includes people who work at home and those who take their kids to work with them. On any given day, that's true for an estimated 2.3 million American workers. More: Raising children is expensive. Some parents want it on the ballot Some parents say juggling work and kids have made them master multitaskers and even believe that their commitment to their jobs makes them better parents in the end. But what's best for young kids? 'Young children aren't really designed to sit aside you while you do an hour Zoom call with other adults,' Chad Dunkley, CEO of New Horizon Academy, said. New Horizon has childcare facilities in Minnesota, Idaho, Iowa, Colorado and Kansas. Dunkley is particularly worried about parents who distract their little ones at home with electronic devices. Even so, Dunkley said he understands that many families can't afford childcare, and that some parents who can afford it simply prefer to have their kids at home. Susan Wood, a mortgage loan officer in York, Pennsylvania, said she was making just $18 an hour when she gave birth to her daughter in 2023. A single mother at the time, she debated taking an office job with slightly higher pay. But no amount of money, Wood said, would have been worth the time she got to spend at home with her newborn. 'I wanted her here with me,' Wood said. Working while parenting: A juggle and a luxury Horton always saw herself being a stay-at-home mom. But that's 'just not doable' in today's economy, she said, especially with the student loans she and her husband are still paying off. She likes her work and keeps her job to help support her family. But even with a childcare discount through her employer, she and her husband found it would cost about half of her salary to send their son to daycare. And anyways, Horton would rather be near her kids. She's there when Matthew completes a new puzzle for the first time, and when he learns how to write a new letter. These days, she's watching Octavia learn to walk. 'I get to watch them grow and learn in real time,' Horton said. 'And I think a lot of moms miss out on that when they're working.' This juggle − while exhausting − is a luxury. Remote work "isn't really a possibility" for a lot of low-wage workers, Katherine Gallagher Robbins, senior research fellow for the National Partnership for Women & Families, said. People in the food and service industry, for instance, can't work from home. And on top of earning low wages, these parents have the burden of finding and often paying for childcare. These jobs typically don't come with paid leave, either. In the U.S. Census Bureau surveys, the parents who supervised kids while working because they found childcare unattainable were mostly white, and the majority had a household income of $75,000 or more. Remote work led more women to enter the workforce, Robbins said. But women in the U.S. still trail behind peer countries like Canada and Germany in terms of workforce participation. 'The research shows that people would like to work at home more than they are able to do,' Robbins said. 'I feel like my son is missing out' by staying at home Not all parents who work remotely want their kids to stay home with them. Rebecca Hernandez is a single mother who works remotely from her South Florida home while caring for her 2-year-old son, Anthony. There are "a lot of distractions throughout the day," she said. She's often coordinating changing Anthony's diaper and logging onto a meeting on time. Her family lives out of state and she doesn't have a strong support system nearby. If she could, Hernandez said she would send her son to a childcare facility at least a few days a week. But childcare is expensive, and her salary is just over the threshold to qualify for Florida's childcare assistance program. "I don't make enough, and I make too much," Hernandez said. She feeds Anthony on her breaks and tries to get him out to the park when she can. She finds moments throughout her work day to teach him about colors, shapes, numbers and letters. But she's worried that her son isn't getting what he needs, educationally or socially. She wishes the government would look at individual family's situations to determine who gets childcare assistance. "I feel like my son is missing out on so much," she said. Childcare costs are only going up, Dunkley said. 'We kind of have a 'your kids are your problem' approach," Dunkley said. "But in reality, society is better off when children are thriving.' 'Why are we asking parents to deprioritize their children?' Many parents who were able to work from home during the pandemic are being asked to return to the office, even though nearly half of remote workers say they'd leave their job if they had to go back to fully in-person work, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Some employers worry that too much flexibility could impact productivity, while others believe workers should be able to rearrange their schedule to fit their lifestyle. "The pandemic taught us that we trust our people,' said Amy Bouque, chief people officer for Kelly, a human resources consulting company. Kelly offered remote work options for low-wage workers long before the pandemic through its call center, which employs about 3,000 fully remote workers. The company prides itself on creating workplace options for women. When expectations are clear and employees hit their goals, they don't need to be 'bound to a clock,' Bouque said. Flexible work hours aren't just helpful for parents working remotely – they're a necessity. Michael Perry, who lives in Santa Barbara, California, was an executive at Shopify when his first son was born. Of the first four months of his son's life, Perry said he was gone for two of them. Perry realized that working parents don't have close to enough support culturally, in the private sector or through government policies. He left his job and developed an app, Maple, that he hopes can alleviate at least some of the stresses that working parents face each day. Maple is an organization tool that helps parents manage schedules and household chores. It's about much more than a business venture for Perry, though. Through Maple, he is on a mission to change the way society talks about working and parenting. He doesn't want to just normalize the integration of work and family life – he's advocating for government and industry leaders to help make life easier for working parents. 'Why are we asking parents to deprioritize their children?' Perry said. He suggests managers use the money set aside for company happy hours and coffee runs to send their workers lunch at home. Workers shouldn't feel awkward sitting with their child on their lap during a work meeting, he said. And people should be able to step away from a work call to care for their kids, without guilt. Parents who work remotely don't end up working less, Perry stressed. Instead, they spread their work hours outside of the traditional 9 to 5. 'The work will always be there," Perry said. Lauren Ezzell, head of family experience for Maple, said working from home has made her a better parent. She's more focused and productive during her "on" time for work, and more present when she has dedicated time with their children. Still, it isn't easy. "There is no mute button for a toddler throwing a tantrum while you're on a client call," she said. Madeline Mitchell's role covering women and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is funded by a grant from Pivotal Ventures. Pivotal Ventures does not provide editorial input. Reach Madeline at memitchell@ and @maddiemitch_ on X.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How COVID Shaped Child Care and Early Learning
In March 2020, when states and cities ordered widespread school closures in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19, many local leaders urged child care programs — especially family child care providers — to stay open for the nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, grocers and other essential workers who needed child care in order to work. So began the United States' crash course on the importance of child care to its entire economy. As some child care programs kept their doors open, others struggled to make ends meet. With parents pulling children out of early learning programs because of health concerns, financial constraints and other pressures, many providers suffered tuition losses and low enrollment, while struggling with the rising costs of new safety measures. By March 2021, nearly 16,000 child care programs had shuttered, according to a report from Child Care Aware of America, which was based on data from 37 states. Some experts suggested that the number was closer to 20,000 if all states were accounted for. Much of the early learning workforce had lost their jobs or left the field. Additionally, without care for their children, many mothers left their jobs — a phenomenon some economists refer to as a 'shecession.' The pandemic temporarily devastated the field, but five years later, a number of these effects seem to have rebounded. There are now slightly more child care jobs than before the pandemic, according to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. Mothers with young children have entered or returned to the workforce in record numbers. What has endured is a sense among the public and lawmakers that affordable, accessible child care is essential to a healthy economy. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter But experts say that such good-on-paper developments can cloud a more nuanced story. To better understand the ways in which COVID-19 radically altered child care and early learning in the U.S., I interviewed five experts about what they consider key to the legacy of the pandemic on the field. Here's what they shared, edited and organized for length and clarity. Julie Kashen is a longtime child care advocate and the director of women's economic justice at The Century Foundation, where she conducts research on families, caregiving, economic mobility and women's labor participation. The pandemic shone a spotlight on a challenge that many of us knew had been there all along. For so long, people had bought into [a] false argument that child care and early learning are an individual problem for each family to solve on their own. Seeing the impact of school and child care closings on parents and the workforce around the whole country, and at the same time [changed that]. CEOs and employers were finally understanding the [child care] challenges parents face. There was increased media attention on the issue because it was so prevalent, and also more reporters had firsthand experience with it. So as members of Congress got ready to put money into the airline industry, the restaurant industry and the retail industry — sectors that Congress has long been comfortable bailing out — we were able to make the case that child care is a sector that's impacted, and that also impacts all those other sectors, and therefore needs investment. It quickly became clear that this was not being treated as a partisan issue. Leaders on both sides began stepping up to say, 'child care needs to be part of our pandemic relief package,' and that led to significant investments. Now more elected officials are eager to be child care champions. They understand that they need to have a position and perspective on child care, that leading on child care is a popular thing to do. Mary Cheng is the director of childhood development services at the Chinese-American Planning Council, which has several early childhood centers and after school programs serving low-income families in New York City. Providers feel exhausted by everything that's been happening. I feel like they haven't had a full break since COVID hit. There has been a definite drop in enrollment in our programs due to the pandemic, but [we now serve] a higher number of [children with] special needs. In our classrooms, like 50% [of the children] need services such as early intervention or speech and occupational therapy. I think parents were scared to bring them out for services [during the pandemic]. But it also has to do with the way that kids were being occupied at home. If parents were working remotely, they weren't paying attention to children the same way. They were giving them screens to keep them quiet. Today, a lot of the children want that instant gratification. We're seeing a lot more children with a limited attention span. We're also finding it harder to get parents to the table to work with us. When people are cornered and feel like they have no choices, and no connection, [the way they did during the pandemic], they close up. A lot of families are still not willing to gather together the same way as before, so there isn't that same family support or peer system that they need. A lot of families don't feel like there are systems in place to really support them. They want us to do it all. Chris Herbst is a professor at Arizona State University focused on the economics of child care and early childhood education. Prior to COVID-19 not a lot of child care research was focused on the workforce. Now, a lot is very much focused on the workforce. Pretty much every [recent] paper I've written has focused in some way on the workforce, documenting its skill level change, or how public policies — whether it's the minimum wage or immigration enforcement — have affected it. The child care workforce is a bit like a leaf blowing in the wind. It's very sensitive to all kinds of changes in the policy and economic environment because it is inextricably linked to the larger labor market. When there are shocks to the larger labor market — like if lots of new parents are entering or leaving the labor market — that has obvious implications for the child care sector. The shocking piece of news coming out of the pandemic that keeps me coming back to the workforce is how hard it has been for child care providers to hire and keep teachers, never mind highly qualified teachers. In the wake of the pandemic, the pay in the low wage labor market really started to increase, but child care providers couldn't keep up, so it made hiring and retaining highly qualified staff even more difficult, and you continue to hear that to this very day. Erica Phillips is the executive director of the National Association for Family Child Care, a non-profit dedicated to promoting high quality child care by strengthening the profession of family child care. Before the pandemic, many home-based providers felt invisible and not supported. The pandemic gave a window into how important they are. Family child care providers were lauded as heroes for staying open when many child care centers closed, and a lot of parents were interested in their small size. Some advocates leveraged that spotlight to talk about the systemic changes needed to support home-based child care. [When COVID funding became available to stabilize the child care sector,] a lot of family child care programs entered the public funding system for the first time. More began engaging with their state child care registries to access technical assistance or grants. In several states, family child care providers unionized and were able to collectively bargain, resulting in increased pay or access to retirement plans or health insurance. We continue to see a significant hunger and momentum for ensuring that our sector is respected and supported. But as COVID funding has dried up, many family child care providers are beginning to feel forgotten. There are states that have invested in their early education systems who have been inclusive of family child care. And then there are states where the providers feel like they are trying to shut down family child care. The sentiment we hear from family child care is, 'We are essential for a lifetime, not just for a pandemic.' Steven Barnett is founder and senior co-director of Rutgers University's National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), which publishes an annual report tracking preschool policies, funding and enrollment in the U.S. During the pandemic, kids weren't in classrooms so studies in classrooms were completely disrupted. A lot of data collection was also delayed. On the flip side, we started a survey of a representative sample of 1,000 families of 3-5 year olds on their preschool learning activities, including home learning activities. We wanted to see the impacts of this moment on kids' learning activities, because a bunch of them were not going to preschool, they were getting this remote stuff — and who knows how well that was working. We started in the spring of the pandemic and we've been doing it every year since. Our data show that parents read less to their kids during the pandemic. It was like, 'I've had that kid all day while I'm working at home, and we're both too beat to do this.' Eventually, the reading bounced back up, but it never came back to where it was. Even in the spring of 2020, before people had really been wrung out by the pandemic, the reading levels were still a lot higher than they are now. We [also] found that children's social emotional development tanked during the pandemic. [Some] behavior problems and mental health issues seem to have receded, but the prosocial — how well do you get along with other kids part — hasn't come back to where it was before. There's way more screen time than anyone recommends for young children, and the converse of that is there's way less outdoor time. That's a problem. If kids are outdoors less, and on screens more, then wouldn't we think they would have fewer experiences playing with other kids? These aren't things we had been monitoring nationally, and we know they have consequences for kids' learning and development. We plan to continue this work.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan Senate Democrats unveil plan to give tax cuts and lower costs for parents of young children
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) speaks about Democrats' plan to support parents of young children at a news conference in the Michigan Capitol Building alongside other Democrats and child welfare advocates on Mar. 12, 2025 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols Democrats in the Michigan Senate are proposing tax credits, stipends and subsidized childcare in order to support the state's workforce and grow the population. The first few years of a child's life is considered the most expensive time period in a child's life, lawmakers and early childhood development stakeholders said during a news conference Wednesday announcing a plan to offset some of the costs. Building off the momentum of Democrats expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC for working families, in 2023, Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores), said the new proposal includes a tax credit of $5,500 for families with children under the age of 3. 'When we let parents keep more of their hard earned money, they're not only able to afford the necessities, but plan for the future and give their kids better opportunities than what they had growing up,' Hertel said. 'It gives everybody a better chance here in Michigan to succeed and the positive effects of this extend far beyond just the family household. This is the type of policy that works to uplift entire communities.' With the rising costs of living and unaffordable costs of childcare, the cost of being a parent in Michigan is unsustainable, Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said citing Michigan Association of United Ways ALICE numbers that 41% of households in Michigan struggle to afford basics like housing, health care and food. The average annual cost of childcare per child in Michigan is about $9,000, according to Child Care Aware of America. When families can't afford the basics, Michigan businesses suffer by having fewer customers, McMorrow said, straining the job market and cyclically damaging the state's economy. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the state economy hard, McMorrow added, and families need a boost to be able to thrive. 'One of the major reasons families have not recovered from the devastating impact of the pandemic is because we lack the infrastructure to adequately support parenthood,' McMorrow said. 'Senate Democrats are in your corner…But we're still up against a system that has ignored the financial struggles of parents instead prioritizing the needs of billionaires and big corporations.' Democrats' new plan calls for codifying the MI Tri-Share program, which splits child care costs between employers, the state, and employees, into the state budget. Additionally, Democrats are committing to expanding accessibility for new childcare centers to open. As a pediatrician, one of the hardest conditions for families to overcome is poverty, said Dr. Mona Hanna, the Flint pediatrician who helped expose the impact of the Flint Water Crisis in 2014. 'When babies are born into and grow up in poverty, it is a pathogen. It makes kids sick. It impacts their entire life course, it impacts their potential,' Hanna said. But the state has started making moves to reduce poverty's sting on families, Hanna said, noting the successes of the program she is a director for, Rx Kids, which supplies cash payments to moms in Flint, Kalamazoo and in the Upper Peninsula. In Flint, Hanna said Rx Kids has distributed over $7 million since the beginning of 2024 to more than 1500 families who use the funds for baby supplies, costs of housing, transportation and childcare. The program offers $1,500 to moms during pregnancy, then $500 monthly in the baby's first year of life, regardless of income. Families are experiencing better healthcare outcomes in Flint because of monthly stipends from Rx Kids, Hanna said, adding that the program is repairing broken trust in health care and government organizations, a meaningful lift for the families hurt by the lead contamination from the water crisis. The goal now for Democrats is expanding the Rx Kids program statewide in order to break poverty's far reaching impact, Hanna said. Early support for kids and families keep them healthy and able to perform in educational and economic systems. 'Any investment in early childhood has a massive return on investment. For something like Rx Kids, it's a trickle up program. Those dollars get spent locally, so it's an economic development program, but also, in the long run, you have less costs in child welfare because it's preventing child welfare involvement,' Hanna said. 'Those societal savings may not be seen right away, but any investment in early childhood reaps a massive return on investment.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
