Why We Think Babies

Rose C. has faced challenges finding reliable child care options for her daughter that align with her demanding work schedule as a chef.   

Rose encountered disappointments, such as false promises from child care facilities, leading her to advocate for better child care services in her community. She’s “hoping that not only do they open up more child care around the state, but that they make it affordable and that they offer other hours. Because not every parent can work nine to five. There are nurses, there are people who are health aides, there’s so many other people that just can’t find child care at night.”   

Since she did not have access to formal paid maternity leave when her daughter, Dinah, was born, Rose managed her finances by utilizing all her accrued paid time off.    

Today, Rose and her husband, who is also a chef, cobble together their work schedules so that someone can be home at all times with their daughter. They also get some help from her in-laws so they can pick up extra shifts.   

The family’s financial and logistical strain upon the birth of their daughter inspired Rose to advocate for other families left in a similar lurch. While she has no regrets and has cherished every moment with her daughter, Rose is pushing for public funding for a national paid family and medical leave program and for child care – especially for families in rural areas with limited options and long commutes.  

“I saw [ZERO TO THREE’s] Strolling Thunder and I said, ‘I’m going to sign up for that and I’m going to speak up with all the other parents’,” said Rose. “I’m happy that I can contribute. Policies are not serving the average family in the United States.  Every baby should have families who have paid leave to care for them, and child care that makes sense for them.”   

Cameron H.’s journey into motherhood was marked by a series of challenges that illuminate the systemic struggles faced by working parents. From the onset of pregnancy, Cameron’s experience underscores the critical necessity for paid family leave and affordable child care.   

For Cameron, a nonprofit professional, and her partner, Christian, a military veteran now working as an electrician, “We thought we were doing the right thing by putting our baby on a child care waitlist before she was even born. But unfortunately that wasn’t feasible.” Although the family joined a waitlist at a child care program in their budget when Cameron was just three months pregnant, the wait for care was still over a year when their daughter, Lilith, was born.  

Cameron cobbled together paid sick and vacation time to stay home with Lilith for the first five weeks. She then took a few weeks of unpaid time off before working from home with help from a family friend “because that was all that we could afford.” Plus, she was exclusively breastfeeding Lilith.  

By the time Lilith turned one, Cameron and Christian found solace and support in a local Early Head Start program, a discovery facilitated by Cameron’s supervisor. This program not only provided enriching educational opportunities for Lilith but also offered a sense of security knowing their child was in capable hands while Cameron and Christian worked.  

Cameron and Christian’s journey underscores the urgent need for legislative reforms that prioritize the well-being and economic resilience of working families.   

“I really hope [Congress] sees that there’s hardworking families that just need help,” said Cameron. “We need to see some sort of change to allow for women and families to be supported when they have children… Being supported would mean affordable child care, access to more resources, and, in general, just paid family leave that allows for women not to have to rush back to work whenever they’re not quite ready. Their baby’s not quite ready.”