Did you know that in many places, child care costs more than college tuition per year? The purple bars below are child care costs; the red ones are public university tuition costs. In every case listed, that purple bar — wouldn’t you know it — is bigger than the red. It’s the worst in Washington, D.C.
When we think about all the ways Americans are often held back from achieving even a middle-class lifestyle, these are the things that get in the way: child care costs and minimal pay. Add the fact that those two factors can disproportionately affect women, and it means we’re creating a system where women aren’t encouraged to thrive — in fact, if they do thrive, it’s in spite of the conditions around them. What kind of beautiful things could happen if we created a community where conditions were set up to help people succeed instead of fail?
