The United States is facing a "Mommy Tax" crisis, a largely unrecognized burden that disproportionately affects working mothers as they grapple with the high costs and stresses of securing quality childcare for school-aged children. This issue not only pressures mothers out of the workforce but also has broader economic implications, affecting family finances, business productivity, and overall stability within the workforce and homes. EnrichedHQ is at the forefront of tackling this challenge by spreading awareness and offering robust educational programs for children in 5th grade through high school, thereby supporting working mothers and contributing to the collective benefit of society.
BRISTOL, Vt., Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The oft-used phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child," is a proverb that has its roots in African culture, but is applicable in all cultures, for all people. The responsibilities of raising children go far beyond the home and are best executed when shared among those who want to provide opportunities for the child while supporting the primary caregiver. If the weight of caregiving continues to fall primarily on the shoulders of moms, society will continue to experience the detrimental effects of how this burden harms all women in this position and their children. EnrichedHQ has recognized that businesses that employ mothers can significantly lessen this burden by providing child care opportunities for older children who have aged out of traditional child care. "While so many parents are suffering, corporate America needs to cut through the bureaucracy and get innovative in providing low-cost, turnkey approaches to the issues of quality child care," states Carleen Haylett, CEO of EnrichedHQ.
The increasing costs of child care
Year after year, the costs associated with child care for kids of all ages continue to rise, further creating an untenable dilemma for families. Society still disproportionately places the responsibilities of child care upon mothers, leading not only to feelings of overwhelm but also placing these women in positions where they may have to choose between working or not, as the costs associated with child care can make working outside the home a higher cost than keeping a job.
Peanut, an online community of mothers, questioned over 3,600 mothers about the challenges they faced. Their resulting report, The State of Invisibility, paints a gloomy picture of the current state of motherhood and child care. A stark finding of this report is that 96% of women feel that their needs are largely ignored by society, and they are resolute in calling for greater visibility and more empathy. Among the numerous initiatives they want to see, 85% want more family-friendly workplaces.1 Clearly, the "Mommy Tax" of mothers bearing the majority of child-rearing responsibilities is reaching a breaking point.
In Care.com's 2024 Cost of Child Care Report, 47% of parents reported spending more than $18,000 on child care in 2023, more than three times the 7% determined to be affordable by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Critically, more than one-third of parents resort to using their savings to pay for child care, further reducing their financial stability.2
In 2021, child care costs for children of all ages in all care situations outpaced inflation for the third consecutive year.3 Each year, an increasing number of families with children are more likely to struggle to pay for child care along with all of their other essential needs. This fact will continue to harm the financial, emotional, and mental stability of parents, to the detriment of the family and the children.
While these statistics are jaw-dropping, they do little to call attention to the larger need for care, specifically for middle and high-school-age kids that have aged out of traditional child care settings. The widely held notion that child care ends after kindergarten is a misbelief that creates an often overwhelming burden for parents and a lack of beneficial options for older students.
Research has shown that quality, out-of-school programs are even more critical for older students. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, children spend an average of 80% of their days out of school.4 This knowledge has prompted policymakers to push for more expanded learning opportunities beyond regular school hours. Educational programs outside of school have proved to be valuable resources that provide academic support, enrichment activities, workforce development opportunities, and more. These programs aim to enhance the overall development and well-being of children of all ages.
Afterschool activities provide valuable opportunities for children to explore their interests, develop skills, and foster social connections outside of the traditional school setting. However, not all parents can easily afford the costs associated with these activities. Financial constraints can pose challenges for families, limiting their ability to enroll their children in extracurricular programs. From enrollment fees to transportation expenses or even the cost of necessary equipment or materials, the cumulative financial burden can become overwhelming.
According to a report by the Wallace Foundation, the cost of out-of-school programs during the school year for middle school students ranged from $2,430 to $5,850, with the average cost being $4,320. For high school students, the approximate costs ranged from $2,000 to $6,900 annually, with an average cost of $4,580.5
Because teens have much more defined tastes and desires as well as more freedom to make choices, out-of-school programs need to offer more specialized focuses to attract and engage older students. Policymakers and educators increasingly consider these programs for teens as a vital tool to improve graduation rates and strengthen the workforce. This outcome is critical for future employers and all of society.
How child care affects employee attrition
While the Mommy Tax—women in the workforce paying a price to have children—has been around since women entered the workforce, the pressures on women during the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up to an often-unsustainable level. They experienced increased workloads at work and home, causing many to reach a breaking point. They began leaving the workforce, many yet to return. The labor participation rate in the US is still 1.7% lower than before the pandemic in February 2020, including nearly 1.6 million mothers with children under the age of seventeen who dropped out of the workforce and have not returned.6
Even prior to the pandemic, child care issues were a barrier to women in the workforce. Women disproportionately take on unpaid child care responsibilities when they cannot find or afford child care. A 2018 survey reported that mothers were 40 percent more likely than fathers to report that child care issues had negatively impacted their careers. Women are often forced to make career decisions based first on child care issues rather than on career aspirations. This same survey reported that, without a healthy child care system, revenue and output suffer, with major economic effects. It is estimated that American businesses lose $12.7 billion annually because of their employees' child care challenges and that nationally, the cost of lost earnings, productivity, and revenue is an estimated $57 billion each year.7
According to Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and CEO of MomsRising, "The care infrastructure was hanging by a thread before the pandemic. Then that unraveled altogether, and it became clear that we absolutely need to invest in child care so parents can go to work, children can thrive, and child care workers can earn living wages. Investing in child care is job-enabling and job-creating, by allowing parents to go to their much-needed jobs, and by investing in a career and better wages for care workers."8
In a report published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 58% of parents say they are unable to find child care and 26% say they are unable to afford it. And, when child care is not accessible, it makes sense that the person earning less is the one to leave their job, meaning women are more likely to leave a career as they still earn about $172 less per week than men.9
A report in Forbes found that when employers provide a supportive culture that enables women to be successful, they are more productive and motivated, with these companies reporting greater retention rates, saving vast amounts of money, and growing their businesses.10
How the current education model is failing students
The COVID-19 pandemic had far-reaching repercussions, not the least being the impact it had on students. According to the Brookings Institution, data taken since students returned to the classroom shows a never-before-seen decline in students' knowledge and skills, a loss of several months of learning in language arts, and even more in math, along with increasing gaps between the lowest and highest students.11 The gaps in knowledge can impact future learning and the impacts are far-reaching and may last for decades to come.
Homeschooling increased, on average, 51 percent over the last six years, with public school enrollment dropping 4 percent.12 Many parents see homeschooling as a viable alternative to public schooling for a variety of reasons, including having the ability to teach more 'real-life' content that prepares students for higher education and their future careers. However, this also means that public schools will lose funding from students who do not attend, further weakening their ability to meet the many differing academic needs of their students.
Perhaps one positive discovery that emerged from the pandemic is that educators, parents, and students discovered that learning could happen anywhere. There are opportunities for learning outside of the standard classroom setting and quality programs that provide these opportunities. Families play a vital role in advocating for educational experiences that will help their children succeed and prepare them for life.
A program such as EnrichedHQ is a powerful example of additional, alternative learning that meets students where they are and offers a bevy of educational options to pique their interests and keep them engaged. Learning does not have to end when the last bell rings. If corporations, human resource departments, and business leaders would look at the bigger picture, they would see that the investments they make now—by providing quality education programs to their employees—will pay far more than the initial investment, not only in their companies, but for all of society.
As Carleen Haylett of EnrichedHQ says, "Big corporations need to wake up. A platform like EnrichedHQ can play a significant role in cutting the attrition rate of employees, more specifically women, potentially saving millions of dollars, and making a positive impact on their employees, and the students that are the future of our society."
About EnrichedHQ:
In 2020, single mother and technology leader Carleen Haylett witnessed pandemic-driven gaps in the U.S. educational space when her fifth-grade son began to thrive with homeschooling. The schoolwork was manageable, but the lack of affordable virtual extracurricular programs available, which would stimulate his development as a student preparing for middle and high school, was a shock. Torn between motherhood and her career, corporate pressure mounted, and she left her job. She founded EnrichedHQ to solve the logistical nightmare of finding and managing options for kids who no longer need daycare or a sitter, bridging child care through high school. Leveraging her 20+ years in technology development, product management, and sales, she developed a platform that offers virtual extracurricular programs for middle and high school-age children that enrich and prepare them for life. Working parents can find an immediate remedy for this common parental stressor through their employers. EnrichedHQ manages all the logistics, letting parents easily find, book, schedule, and pay for multiple virtual programs for multiple children across multiple providers. Both corporations and parents benefit from EnrichedHQ's commitment. Visit https://enrichedhq.com/.
References:
1. Peanut. "The State of Invisibility." https://invisible-mothers.peanut-app.io/
2. Care.com. "This is how much child care costs in 2024". https://www.care.com/c/how-much-does-child-care-cost/
3. Child Care Aware of America. 'New Report Finds that Increases in the Price of Child Care Continue to Exceed the Rate of Inflation.' https://info.childcareaware.org/media/price-of-care
4. National Conference of State Legislatures. "Supporting Student Success Through After-School Programs." https://www.ncsl.org/education/supporting-student-success-through-afterschool-programs/maptype/tile
5. Wallace Foundation. "The Cost of Quality Out-of-School Time Programs." https://wallacefoundation.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/The-Cost-of-Quality-of-Out-of-School-Time-Programs.pdf
6. CAP20. "The Child care Crisis is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce." https://www.americanprogress.org/article/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/
7. CAP20. "The Child care Crisis is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce." https://www.americanprogress.org/article/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/
8. The Guardian. "I don't have a choice': child care costs preventing US women from returning to work." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/05/child care-us-women-workforce
9. U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Data Deep Dive: A Decline of Women in the Workforce." https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/data-deep-dive-a-decline-of-women-in-the-workforce#:~:text=Many%20women%20left%20the%20labor%20force%20altogether.%20Many,and%20many%20more%20were%20operating%20at%20limited%20capacity.
10. Forbes. "Why Women are Leaving the Workforce After the Pandemic—And How to Win Them Back." https://www.forbes.com/sites/deloitte/2021/07/01/why-women-are-leaving-the-workforce-after-the-pandemic-and-how-to-win-them-back/?sh=20de142e796e
11. Brookings. "The Alarming State of the American Student in 2022." https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-alarming-state-of-the-american-student-in-2022/
12. The Washington Post. "Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest growing form of education." https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/homeschooling-growth-data-by-district/
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