'Good for Business': Investing in Child Care Pays off in the End

Brigid Schulte was quoted in WTOP about the Care Report: 

Just two blocks from the White House, Brigid Schulte and her colleagues at New America’s Better Life Lab study society’s most complex and constantly evolving topics: gender norms and family policy. Child care is at the forefront of their work.

Schulte, co-author of The Care Report, said the current child care system is a patchwork, a collection of fragmented pieces, and it’s not working.

“What we see is that the system really stresses American families, not only financially, but in terms of time, in terms of bandwidth, in terms of anxiety and worry,” she said.

Schulte, who is also a mother, had three different caregivers at one point because she couldn’t find anything else that worked to cover the gaps between her work schedule, her husband’s work schedule and her kids’ school schedules.

“And that’s a really common experience,” she said. “Parents in countries where there are supports, where it’s not so difficult to be a parent and work and raise a family, they’re not only happier, but they’re more productive.”

This piece was part of a five-part series on child care. The other four pieces can be viewed here, here, here, and here.