![]() That’s a thriving, massive, informal child care market,” he said. Of the 11 states with the highest rates of residents living in child care deserts, seven are in the West.Ĭhris Herbst, an assistant professor at Arizona State University, said that the term “child care desert” can be slightly misleading, since many families use friends, family, nannies, or other unlicensed caregivers. According to the Center for American Progress, more than 75 percent of neighborhoods in Utah are considered “child care deserts” where there are more than three young children for every licensed child care slot. That cultural shift plus the rapid growth in Western cities means that we may only be approaching a child care crisis point. Today, the majority of parents need some kind of child care to keep working. In other words, our child care needs as a country have shifted in recent decades. Both parents work full-time in nearly half of two-parent households, up from less than one-third of households in 1975. Seven in 10 mothers with children 18 and under worked outside the home in 2015, up from 47 percent of moms in 1975, according to Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, working motherhood in the country has become commonplace. While 2,300 child care spots were added in King County between 20, the number of children 4 and under grew by about 7,280 in that time, and the number of licensed facilities actually decreased, according to data reported by The Seattle Times. Just weeks before she gave birth, Mosqueda was reportedly still on at least one child care wait list she had signed up for a year earlier. Perhaps, then, Seattle can expect its council to pay more attention to the child care crisis the city is facing. Studies show, for instance, that women legislators are more likely to champion issues that impact women and families most, like health, education, housing, and civil rights. More diverse political leadership means more diverse issues are addressed at the government level. Their experiences with parenthood while in office matter. Mosqueda is the first sitting member of the Seattle City Council to become a mother while in office her colleague Lorena González is due to join the same exclusive club in January. Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda made history last month when she had a baby. As the economies of Western cities boom, child care has simultaneously become unaffordable for parents and low-paying for practitioners.
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