Welcome to The Response! + Affordable child care
Welcome to The Response
A weekly selection of three solutions stories sent to your inbox
The Response is a newsletter that brings you a weekly dose of responses to social problems. It’s tailored to the latest news moments and draws from the Solutions Story Tracker™, a database of 3,500+ stories that’s growing every day.
I’m Marie von Hafften, your curator. When I started working for the Solutions Journalism Network five months ago, I fell head over heels for this wonderful community of journalists, educators, and news readers. It’s an honor to curate solutions reporting for you.
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In the news:
School’s out for summer
As the academic year winds down, the need for affordable child care becomes ever more pressing for working parents. Child care arrangements vary widely around the world, as well as who foots the bill in money and labor.
Across OECD countries, the average cost of center-based child care is about 17 percent of net family earnings, with particularly high burdens carried by families in countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
So, what are solutions?
Here are three stories from the United States and the United Kingdom about different ways of increasing access to affordable, quality care, particularly for young children. Explore how these responses work, including their benefits and limitations.
The Parent Hack For Cheaper Childcare
William Kremer
BBC
In London, parents work together to take on shifts at a nursery to lower labor costs. Plus, parents get extra time with their little ones. But not all parents can afford to take the time off work.
Companies Realize Benefits Of Pitching In For Child Care
Martha Dalton
WABE
Employees at The Home Depot’s headquarters in Atlanta have the benefit of a child care center called Little Apron Academy. Affordable on-site child care can help companies recruit and retain good employees.
Equipping Grandmas With Childcare Credentials
Ann Schimke
The Atlantic
Providers Advancing Student Outcomes (PASO) helps family members and friends in Colorado learn how to enhance the socio-emotional skills of children in their care. Most participants are undocumented immigrants, a group often overlooked by other programs.
DISCOVER MORE SOLUTIONS
An Alternative to Traditional Loans in Higher Education
Concerned about the costs of higher education? Story Fellow Emma Zehner considers methods of covering college tuition that don’t rely on debt.
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