Crisis Conversations: Childcare Reckoning
Podcast
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July 31, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is completely upending the way we work, live, connect with one another and what we expect from our government, communities and each other. It’s all happening so fast that stress levels and anxiety are sky high. That’s why the Better Life Lab is hosting a weekly interactive conversation for people to come together, share stories and begin to make sense of what’s unfolding and what it could mean for the future of gender equity, health, how we work and how we live.
Crisis Conversations–Live from Better Life Lab is hosted by Brigid Schulte and produced by David Schulman.
Schools, summer camps and childcare centers are closed — and many may not reopen until next year. How are parents supposed to manage work, childcare and homeschooling? The childcare crisis is about to become even more acute, as many parents who lost their jobs due to the pandemic have already exhausted the temporary 12-week paid leave Congress passed in early spring. What will it take to build a truly high-quality, universal system that benefits everyone?
To take on this question, Better Life Lab's Brigid Schulte is joined by:
- Caitlyn Collins, Professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and author of Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving
- Renée Boynton-Jarrett, Professor of pediatrics at Boston University and founding Director of the Vital Village Community Engagement Network
- Marla Schuchman, entrepreneur and mother of two
- Alycia Hardy, policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy
- Adriana Garcia, furloughed salon and social justice worker, and mother of four
- Maria Cancian, Dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown
To hear more of this episode including stories and questions from callers, click here. You can also find this episode wherever you listen to your podcasts. The video and transcript of the conversation are down below.