Racial divisions prevent us from winning child care change

This is part of a three-part series in which MDC examines the social and political history of domestic work in America, specifically in Southern states, and factors that have led to the current child care crisis. We consider key roadblocks to meaningful change and highlight how we can continue the legacy of care workers’ resistance by advocating for an equitable system of care.
Child care has emerged as a pressing issue of political debate in recent years, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that more starkly highlighted the importance and instability of the field. This time offers a rare and urgent opportunity for child care reform we haven’t seen in decades. While early education advocates are seizing the moment, the movement lacks unity in strategy and direction.
A person’s perspective and identity influence their responses to several strategic questions in child care. The varied responses to these questions often lead to division in the field. What is gained by professionalizing the workforce, and what is lost? How important is government regulation in ensuring the safety of children? How much is too much (creating an undue burden for providers), or not enough (leading to the distrust of families regarding the quality and safety guaranteed by the system)? How heavily do we involve and try to leverage the business community as an advocate for this issue, how do their values and goals differ from ours, and what is the potential cost of those inconsistencies?
The widespread division among early education advocates on these questions hinders progress toward a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable child care system. We must address the historical, systemic, and contextual factors underlying our divisions. By better understanding and confronting these systemic issues, we can avoid repeating these mistakes and foster unity in the movement for child care reform.
Below, we explore how historical contexts, policies, and practices have shaped the current child care system. We discuss examples of White supremacy ideas intentionally used to sow division across racial backgrounds, elevate White women above women of color in the racial hierarchy, and create policies that center and formalize White women’s preferred forms of child care. We examine the influences of racial divisions across time to connect them to our current fragmented child care system, which fails to meet the needs of all children, families, and child care providers. To inform the way forward, we acknowledge that racial divisions are roadblocks to our success and highlight the need for coordinated multi-racial efforts to accomplish the transformative change we seek.
Read the entire article here.
Descargue el informe en español aquí.
Read the other stories in the series:
- “Still undervalued and underfunded: The invisible child care workforce” explores the roots of low wages and chronic undervaluing of child care providers in the U.S.
- “The evolution of child care from a collective good to an inequitable ‘choice’ model” considers how America’s child care system began as a collective good but has evolved to a highly institutionalized and individualized model of care.
MDC is grateful to the National Domestic Workers Alliance for its History of Domestic Work and Worker Organizing timeline and to the National Women’s Law Center for “Undervalued: A Brief History of Women’s Care Work and Child Care Policy in the United States.” We want to express our gratitude to the participants in our programs, specifically to the Home-Based Child Care (HBCC) Community of Practice members and HBCC Haven providers; their lived experience and work in their communities have greatly informed this analysis.