On Mother’s Day, vote for a mayor who invests in our future

In May 2020, a group of us mothers were feeling deep frustration as we watched announcements of the “reopening of the economy” that completely left out child care or the needs of working parents. So we penned a Mother’s Day commentary about the importance of child care as the foundation of the economy. Little did we know then how grave of an issue this would become.

A year later, it has become crystal clear how a lack of support for child care affects our economy. Across the country, nearly 3 million women have left the workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant percentage citing lack of child care as the reason. Here in Alaska, child care — which was already scarce in many communities — was reduced to 49% of its pre-pandemic capacity in June 2020, and by January of this year was still only back to 75% capacity. As child care centers in Alaska worked to balance their budgets with fewer families enrolled and increased health and safety expenses, 37% considered permanently closing, and 63% needed additional funding to stay open, according to data from Nolan Klouda of the Center for Economic Development. According to a survey of Alaska child care workers, more than 50% said pay was inadequate to meet living expenses. And although they are passionate about their jobs, 65% planned to leave. Ninety-seven percent of those child care workers are women.

The longer-term impacts of the pandemic upon the workforce are significant. In May 2020, 41% of unemployed parents looking for work said they were unable or uncertain about returning to pre-pandemic arrangements for child care.

We know families and care providers can’t go back to the way things were pre-pandemic; the child care system has been broken for too long. This sector has long suffered from poor worker pay, high costs for parents, chronic issues regarding access, and little funding to support the improvements in quality that are needed. The result is high stress, high turnover, and consistent worker shortages — all of which affect the children in care and their parents’ employment.

Across the country, business sector leaders are acknowledging the damage wreaked upon our economy and workforce by not supporting child care, and are taking steps to repair and recover. Federal legislation is important to uplift families and children, especially those disproportionately affected by multiple crises.

But we need to leverage this momentum with action here at home. Anchorage will not recover if we don’t prioritize child care and caregiving. We need a leader at the local level who understands the critical contribution of child care to our economic production, who has a track record of listening to families and investing in our children, and who has a solid business plan. Forrest Dunbar is that leader. Forrest understands that when we support families and offer accessible child care, our economy rebounds — and grows! As an Assembly member, he championed the allocation of $10 million in child care subsidies from Anchorage’s CARES Act funding, an action that kept many providers from closing permanently. He is committed to advocating for child care programs, and will work together with the state to maintain funding for current investments. And while Forrest has supported economic recovery through these investments, he also knows we need to envision a better, more innovative and integrated model for working parents, care providers and children. He will partner with the Anchorage School District to expand child care options, pre-K opportunities, and other opportunities to invest in young children. As mothers, we know he has our back.

We love our children more than anything in the world, so we want to raise them in a community that invests in them and offers a future for them as they grow up — a community that sees the contributions of caregiving and child care to a thriving economy. On this Mother’s Day, we’ll enjoy the flowers and cards, but we’re not sleeping in. We know how much work there is and how much is at stake in this election: the future of our children, families, businesses, economic recovery, and the well-being of so many mothers like us. The best gift you can offer this Mother’s Day is a vote for Forrest Dunbar for Anchorage mayor.

Polly Carr, Laura Norton-Cruz, Kim Hays, Jasmin Smith, Roz’lyn Wyche, Sara Dykstra and Tanya Iden are mothers who live and work in Anchorage.

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