We can’t reopen the economy without solving child care

It’s kind of a circular problem: If we’re ever going to get people back to work, they need child care. But those child care workers are out of work, too.

That’s leaving aside the nationwide reopenings and reclosings, and whether its even medically advisable to go back to work right now. As Congress weighs new coronavirus relief programs, both parties are making a point to devote billions to child care. But America’s child care system has been in crisis long before this pandemic.

“It’s not really a system, as we know systems. It is a patchwork of like 675,000 different programs, most of them are not licensed. Some of them are programs with multiple kids. Some of them are single providers and homes,” Washington Post education reporter Valerie Strauss said. “It’s very difficult for many parents to find affordable child care even in the best of times. So there is absolutely no way to fully reopen the economy without fixing this problem. And there are no answers.”

Today Strauss will walk us through why the child care businesses, worth tens of billions of dollars, is in so much trouble. Plus we’ll talk about the obstacles to reopening day cares and schools, and the inequalities around child care that this pandemic has exposed.

Later, we hear from a Vermont sheep farmer with a new side gig, get some feedback to our education episode with Scott Galloway, and Kai Ryssdal answers the Make Me Smart question.

When you’re done listening, tell your Echo device to “make me smart” for our Alexa explainers, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter! Here’s the latest issue.

Here’s a list of some of the stuff we’re talking about today:

• “America’s fragile child-care system reported at risk of collapse in COVID-19 crisis” by our guest Valerie Strauss, in the Washington Post
• “In the Covid-19 Economy, You Can Have a Kid or a Job. You Can’t Have Both.” from the New York Times
• “A Brief, Shameful History of Childcare in the United States” from Jezebel
• “Federal Reserve official warns US recovery may be ‘leveling off’” from the Financial Times
• “Second Stimulus Check Income Eligibility May Be Capped At $40,000” from Forbes

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