Economic recovery for families requires childhood training investment
Our nationwide discourse about economic rehabilitation and recovery must include the urgent need for job development and retraining opportunities in fields that will remain in high demand.
By TALI YARIV-MASHALAn Israeli woman and a child sit at a playground near a kindergarten surrounded by concrete blast walls on the first day of the school year in Nahal Oz(photo credit: AMIR COHEN)
Young families who have lost a source of income during the current crisis will likely feel the reverberations of this blow for years to come. In most cases, mothers are the first to have to give up their jobs or take leave in order to stay home and care for the children. Daycare, nursery and primary school closures challenge family routines and stability, and this burden is shouldered primarily by mothers.Our nationwide discourse about economic rehabilitation and recovery must include the urgent need for job development and retraining opportunities in fields that will remain in high demand, even in our post-corona economy. Government ministries are already exploring innovative professional development processes, with the goal of providing potential employers with a pool of employees who have the skills necessary to compete in a future job market. At a time when many services are moving online and human resources are being phased out in favor of technological solutions, this requires a new way of thinking.It’s critical to realize that we can’t expect or encourage women to return to the workforce without first giving them high-quality childcare options. At the same time, it is clear that, even in today’s uncertain job market, care and welfare professions will remain in high demand. Caregiving – of infants and children, the elderly and the vulnerable – will always be needed under any social or economic structure.Many studies directly correlate the quality of early childhood care with later academic achievement, social success and emotional stability. It comes as no surprise that children from low socio-economic backgrounds suffer disproportionately as a result of poor-quality early childhood care. In general, the more a family struggles socioeconomically, the more they are impacted by the quality of the daycare their young children attend. Flooding the public childcare system with quality, professionally-trained caregivers holds the potential to reduce gaps and minimize disparities in future generations.The current economic crisis has caused many families to stop sending their children to daycare. Daycare is expensive and it sometimes seems like an easier solution for mothers to give up their jobs to stay home and take care of the children. This situation is less than optimal for both moms and kids. The tension, the overcrowding and the demand to constantly meet all of a child’s needs place a great emotional and physical burden on mothers and the entire family.It’s a vicious cycle: the economic crisis creates a reduction in income – which in turn demands a reduction in expenses, including childcare payments – which in turn limits a woman’s ability to return to the job market. The economic and social price of such a cycle is staggering.One way to overcome this is to invest in the professional development of early childhood caregivers. Professional development and career retraining programs offer the possibility of significant employment for many women who have lost their source of income. Providing new early childhood employment opportunities is also a way for daycare centers to grow and improve while providing more families with optimal care for their children and thus forming a support system for parents who want to work. Over time, the creation of quality training courses for early childhood care and education will also improve the quality of care and education for infants.In this way we may be able to take advantage of the current crisis to reduce educational and social disparities for the benefit of parents and future generations. Let us rise to the occasion.The writer is director of the Beracha Foundation.
