Субсидированный детсад для всех желающих?
Latisha McNeill said she’s been dealing with the “crisis of child care” in the city for nearly eight years.
She lives in a NYCHA building on the Upper East Side with her three children, ages 7, 4 and 2. She said she’s often had to consider whether she should leave work or pay for child care.
As a single mother, McNeill said she ended up getting a second job because of the high costs of child care services in her neighborhood.
“I got tired of choosing between food, transportation or childcare,” said McNeill, whose main job is in hospital administration.
In New York City, access to affordable child care was an issue before the pandemic, according to advocates. But for the past few years, the issue has gotten only worse as providers have struggled to remain open and families have struggled to find and pay for available services.
The City Council is now considering a package of five bills that supporters say would lead to universal child care, which would make New York City a pioneer.
One of the bills would establish a child care advisory board that would recommend to the mayor and city council speaker policies on child care for all who need it within five years.
The board’s mandate includes establishing subsidies for families up to 300% and 400% below the federal poverty level that would be funded by a combination of city, state and federal dollars.
“We have to create these subsidies that actually make child care affordable for families,” said Councilmember Julie Menin, a Democrat who represents the Upper East Side and introduced the bills.
For babies younger than 18 months, enrollment in child care programs costs on average $2,600 per month or $21,000 a year, according to a 2019 report by the city comptroller’s office.
For toddlers between 18-24 months, the cost is at least $16,000 a year, according to City Council officials.
It’s made the situation for people like McNeill, who have seen their dollars stretched tighter by inflation, untenable.
“Some of us can't buy bread, but you want us to pay $3,000 for childcare?” she said.
The bills would also create a child care directory and an online portal providing information on child care subsidies, and establish a grants fund for child care programs experiencing a significant risk of closure or displacement.
It would also create a certification program that aims to make it easier for businesses to become eligible child care facilities.
“We want to really try to expedite child care facilities, for example making sure that they are put at the top of the list so that there are no delays,” Menin said.
Three of the bills — the child care advisory board, the child care directory and online subsidies portal — are supported by a supermajority of council members.
Advocates emphasize that lack of access to child care continues to impact the economic recovery of the city as women have struggled to re-enter the job market.
Отсюда
Город Нью Йорк хочет создать программу для субсидирования детсада для всех, у кого доходы до 4-х кратного федерального уровня бедности (на семью). Для увеличения количества детсадов, хотят снизить запросы к ним и убрать прочие бюрократические барьеры. А то ясли (до полутора лет) у нас 21 000 долларов в год на ребенка, садик - 16 000 в год на ребенка (в среднем). Цены растут. 15 лет назад у меня на двоих детей уходило примерно 16 000 в год на садик.
Личное мнение. Субсидии - это хорошо, но когда такая резкая грань: вот до этой суммы субсидии, а после этой - ты сам по себе (учитывая, что эта сумма не безумно большая) - делает проживание в городе специалистов, которые не миллионеры, но и не совсем нищие, малопривлекательным. Хотя бы некая частичная сбсидия для людей с доходом до 150К в год была бы более справедливой. Но это ладно, больше напрягают личности, как приведенная в статье Латиша с тремя детьми мать-одиночка. Какого хрена, как говорится. Впрочем, она работает на двух работах, а там полно таких, которые и детей в детсад хотят сдать и не работать при этом. Субсидия им все равно будет положена.