The challenge and the inequity of child care has become quite visible during the pandemic. The issue has been there in the past few decades but not widely discussed. It is now obvious how important child care is to the general economy as working parents struggle to find a way to care for their children with many schools not engaged in full-time face to face education. The inequity has always been there because of the cost of care and the dilemma faced by poor parents, particularly poor single parents, in both working and finding a way to provide appropriate care for their children. So many complain naively about the work ethic of such parents. The pandemic has only made this situation worse.
We have seven grandchildren within easy driving distance. We have never been involved in full-time care for our grandkids while parents worked, but we have provided some help when a special circumstance such as illness or the temporary closure of a normal childcare option required help. As seventy year olds it is now necessary to be a little selfish. We can help with equipment, but risking personal health with families already asked to quarantine a couple of times because of known exposure. Expecting the elderly to provide coverage with parents working and thus exposed and kids sometimes in and sometimes out of school would be unwise and selfish.
Parents of means have sometimes organized themselves into small groups to take care of their children and assist in remote education. It is not just the differences in family income making this possible, but also the likelihood these parents have the opportunity to schedule their work more flexibly and often because they can work from home. This practice is often described as a child care pod.
One of our daughters involved in such a pod and recognizing how such opportunities are not possible for all happened across a kick starter project for partially funding similar approach for the benefit of families not able to provide it for themselves. She brought this to our attention and we all contributed. This seems a possible alternative approach when governments on multiple levels often seem unable to provide a solution.