Reply To: Wise thoughts that may affect us as DNP colleagues. What do you think?

[Whitney Woodard]

This is an interesting topic that I don’t feel would be completely solved by the suggested intervention. One thing we can all agree on was that most Americans had little to no back up plan for child/family care when the country shut down. In most homes, both parents work full time and leave the house to do so. In fact, my 5th grader’s teacher told me often how she had a couple students in her class at home by themselves or caring for even younger students while doing at-home schooling. Yet there is little to no support from the workforce when it comes to family care conflicts. I don’t know if this childcare benefit that the author mentioned is the solution. These governmental benefits tend to only benefit the lower income class, yet most middle class families cannot afford to pay for childcare services on the regular. Child care has become incredibly expensive (but that is another topic) and cannot be afforded in many families. Will there also be additional taxes imposed on American’s with and without children or aging family members who may or may not even be able to utilize this benefit? I feel like the focus is in the wrong area. There should be more pressure on business and corporation to value and provide family benefits for those wishing to work who have families at home. Unfortunately, I think we are a long way off from any sort of solution.