From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
We just passed Groundhog’s Day, but is it just us or does every pandemic day feel like it’s repeating itself over and over (and over) again? Like the actual movie Groundhog’s Day, where Bill Murray’s character is forced to wake up and repeat the exact same day, day after day–except instead of a gopher, many of us have toddlers and not enough child care.
Like just last week, man woke up to begin their workday AND a day as a toddler mom. While still half-asleep, you may have heard a minor crash. By the time you reached the source, you may have seen that your groundhog (toddler) had successfully smashed his way through a closed baby gate, broken an entire carton of eggs onto the kitchen floor, and was now gleefully playing in an ocean of salmonella. What a way to start a morning.
**This is why we are asking you to TAKE ACTION at https://action.momsrising.org/sign/Groundhog-Day-2022 to raise your voice to tell the Build Back Better holdout U.S. Senators that we are tired of living in a perpetual Groundhog Day cycle!
You can also take a photo of your very own “Groundhog Day” moment (whether it be broken eggs, spilled milk, a sharpied wall, an unholy mess of toys everywhere, or honestly whatever hot mess moment works!) and… Tweet it out with why you need Build Back Better to pass now! Make sure to tag @momsrising along with the hashtag #SolveChildCare so we can be sure to see and share it.
Seriously we don’t know how we (yes, we and millions of parents and caregivers across the nation!) have been handling this. Because to us, every day just feels like a rinse and repeat operation. And we know for many of us, it feels like we’re barely hanging on. The infuriating thing though, is that we don’t NEED to live this way.
The U.S House passed the Build Back Better plan that is helping to end this Groundhog Day disaster for so many of our families! This bill would pass life-saving measures for families like extending the Child Tax Credit payments, solving the child care and Pre-K crisis, guaranteeing paid family and medical leave when your family needs it, making home-and community-based services for the elderly and those with disabilities more affordable, lowering the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs, and more.
In fact, the bill’s Birth Through Five Child Care and Early Learning Program, would provide access to child care for approximately 20 million children and free universal preschool for 6 million children. These historic investments would also improve the quality of programs, increase pay for providers, and reduce child care costs for families. [1]
That sounds so much better than broken eggs!
Your voice is needed because unfortunately, every Republican Senator and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is (so far!) refusing to support this. This is why we are asking you to TAKE ACTION to raise your voice and also Tweet a photo (like the one above) with #SolveChildcare to tell and show the holdouts in the US Senate that we are sick and tired of living Groundhog’s Day and we absolutely need the life-changing support to finally end this infuriating cycle.
Even the U.S. Department of Treasury has stated “The existing child care system in the United States, which relies on private financing … fails to adequately serve many families. This is not just happenstance — sound economic principles explain why relying on private money to provide child care is bound to come up short.” [2]
In “Groundhog’s Day”, the main character finally solved his unending days of déjà vu by performing good deeds for the community. The holdout U.S. Senators need to do the right thing and vote to pass Build Back Better, they need to do this good deed so that we can finally wake up to a new day. A new day where our families are thriving, parents and caregivers feel supported, care providers are fairly compensated and where eggs stay in the frying pan, where they belong.
Thank you for all you do to support the ongoing fight for child care!
References:
[1] How Build Back Better Advances Racial Equity in Child Care and Early Education[2] Parents and caregivers of young children say they’ve hit pandemic rock bottom
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