Here's the deal... We're finally talking about #Childcare and #PublicEducation and there is a direct correlation between these issues and needing a nanny/becoming a nanny (I explain this in my book). It's all about women, our careers, and what needs to happen culturally and politically in our world to break what people like to call, the "glass ceiling", or what I’d like to call, just being treated like a human being.
Though this issue transcends generations, and has certainly been a challenge for the Baby Boomers, GenXers, etc. there are
17 Million, Millennial Mothers today
And that number is only going to get bigger. This is our time for everyone to know that this is not merely a women’s issue, it is a human rights issue and it’s time we start talking about it this way and that, is exactly what my book, Generation Nanny, aims to do!
Millennials are people born between 1981-1996; currently they are 22-37 years old, and reported in 2018 by PEW Research center: “Some 1.2 million Millennial women gave birth for the first time in 2016, according to National Center for Health Statistics data, raising the total number of U.S. women in this generation who have become mothers to more than 17 million”
This is a generation that has experienced much of their professional careers after the 2009 economic crisis, experiencing higher unemployment than their parent’s generation, and now they are reaching the years of marriage and family planning all while looking at the next 20-30 years of paying off their student loans as well.
The goal for all of us millennials, is to maintain a 2 income household and make sure our kids are taken care of while we are at work. The daycare vs. nanny predicament we all end up finding ourselves in is a reflection on our countries need for better, and more affordable, quality childcare options and job that will accommodate workers with families.
THE PREDICAMENT WE’RE IN
As women are increasingly staying in the workforce after having children, and our public education system continues to struggle to accommodate the childcare needs that we have today, there is an ever-present demand for nannies. Based on studies from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women make 77-78 cents on the dollar to that of men, requiring two incomes to become the norm for families who hope to live a middle-class lifestyle. This requirement creates a predicament because by the time the mother needs to return to work after her average 3 months maternity leave, there are not many options for affordable childcare (especially if she does not qualify for government assistance). As for the few affordable childcare options, most daycares are at capacity and families have to wait for the waitlist to dwindle down and their child’s name to be called. They can wait weeks or months for this to happen, and most families just don’t have that flexibility to wait around. This is in fact the moment where families are left with the question: do we need to hire a nanny? Studies say that is is more expensive to have a nanny, but when push comes to shove, sometimes you have to hire a nanny even if it’s just for the interim. This is not a just a trend, it is real life, and it will likely continue to happen until more women are able to make the changes we need as a society to support working families.
Generation Nanny seeks to contextualize the current state of the American childcare system and the intersectionality of women's careers, family planning, and women's pursuit for equality in the worldplace.
#GenerationNanny redefines what it means to make an impact in today’s world. In my memoir, I discover the importance of simply caring for others, I challenge myself to confront and analyzes my own privilege, race, culture, and class while looking to the strength of the generations of nannies that have come before me.
Check out my book proposal and read more about my key audience, reader market, and why I believe Nannying is a topic worth talking about.
#americanchildcare #Womensrights #workingclassfamilies #nannypolitics #generationnanny #millennials