I think we should use AmeriCorp to pay people to help parents who need to work full-time while their kids are remote learning this Fall. This would provide jobs and income to the AmeriCorp worker while enabling parents to get back to productive work. Thoughts?
and let’s consider the use of vacant office and mall space. Government will lease from RE owners
I agree. I think in general we need a resurgence of public work programs to fix infrastructure, deal with gaps in education and healthcare and social services like drug counseling and alternatives to incarceration, all while putting people back to work with decent salaries and benefits and a feeling of purpose.
Completely agree. It’s going to be very bad in the Fall when parents will either leave small kids alone so they can go to work or give up their jobs so they can work. Reall, how will the middle-class function without school? It’s madness. We need a solution.
It is a shame, but in UHB NYC no young adult would be caught "caring for children" when her parents can arrange for or buy her a year-long internship at an investment bank or maybe a contemporary art gallery. I tried getting the older children of my mom friends to coach one of my DC in a sport - for pay - for even one hour a week - for years...no takers. I wound up hiring our sales person at one of the specialty sports stores and he was amazing.
I'm in charge of hiring youth leaders for a local group, and I agree. We paid upwards of $75 an hour for an easy gig and no local kids wanted it.
@jmd please never let my children be the kids who are too coddled to take a real job. I would far prefer hiring a humble, kind, motivated employee who may have lesser credentials than a self-satisfied spoiler Ivy Leaguer.
But those jobs/internships are not going to be so available right now.
@Anon this is true. I hired several college kids whose internships were canceled this summer to pitch in with childcare. it took some juggling because they each had mini-internships on line but I got the coverage I needed.
No one cares about working parents
Doesn't this job already exist? We call them teachers?
Well, yes and no. I was thinking more that we need help with kids who are at home learning from teachers at school. More like helpful minders, rather than credentialed teachers.
@Anonymous Yes, but imagine if teachers were willing to do this work. Then we wouldn't need to create a whole new profession to fill in for them.
The rec centers have been working well and were super under enrolled. They could expand enrollment to non-essential worker kids. The issue is with nice white parents who subconsciously feel that those centers are not a "fit" their kids, hence, pods.
This is not true. Parents are being told that the rec centers are for families that really need it (i.e. essential workers, kids who would have no food to eat in the absence of school). It's not a "fit" issue, it's a "conservation of limited resources" issue.