The average annual cost of sending a toddler to daycare in Washington tops $14,000, according to a new report — and it’s about $2,100 more than sending your child to the University of Washington for a year.
That’s why we (UAW 4121) were fighting for a childcare fund for Research Scientists/Engineers. But UW didn’t want to set the precedent of Staff getting childcare. Because what’s next… the maintenance staff getting it as well?? Oh the fucking horror
Also, residents, postdocs, and grad students get the fund because they are classified as “trainees”. But if a postdoc eventually transitions into a research scientist role (instead of something like a tenure track position) they lose that fund?? It’s all fucking mental
A couple months ago I learned about the Comprehensive Child Development Act, a law that would have helped provide childcare all across the country. It made it to the president’s desk in 1971, where Nixon vetoed it (the book I read underscored how Pat Buchanan pushed Nixon that way, though Wikipedia doesn’t have that aside). Every single person who has had or who has been a child in the last 50 years has been negatively affected by that choice. So, now we’re at declining birthrates. Why would anyone want to keep having kids that society wants no part in caring for them?
