I'm particularly fortunate to be in a position where I can bring my child to work and be able to get good child care. Not a lot of women have that.
Rent and the cost of essentials like food and child care are rising so fast that wages are not keeping up.
I kept working during my campaign because I needed to feed my family. As a single mom of three kids, I have a lot of child care that I needed to juggle, and I was a first-time candidate.
In a country that provides no subsidized child care and no mandatory family leave, no assurance of flexibility in the workplace for parents, no universal preschool and minimal safety nets for vulnerable families, making it a crime to offer children independence in effect makes it a crime to be poor.
Along with a livable wage, many parents are desperate for quality affordable child care.
Women with minimal access to resources and no access to child care have limited choices that too often mean low-wage and part-time labor. In rural communities in the developing world, when women farmers have unequal access to fertilizers or training, their farm productivity lags behind men.
During my time in the state Senate, I've worked to make sure every Kansas child has the support they need to succeed. That means access to good public schools, but it also means strong early childhood programs, an accountable child welfare system to protect kids, and affordable, safe child care.
One of the best things we can do for our country, for advancing our children, is to upgrade our child care system.
Child care should be convenient, affordable, and available in every neighborhood.
As for a fantasy life, working women are more likely to fantasize about finding the perfect child care provider who she can both trust and afford. She might also fantasize that tonight her husband will both shop for and cook dinner.
