Supporting Parents and Caregivers

For parents or caregivers of children, the demands on us as individual parents, with the lack of support from our society are becoming impossible to accomplish. And we tend to blame and shame ourselves (which is an entirely different topic for a different day). As a mother of 3 (ages 6-11 years old), I have been through these obstacles, right along with all the other parents I know.

We think we "should" be doing it all on our own, but the fact is that our society puts all of the responsibility on us. In many other societies, what we consider individual parental responsibility here in the US, is seen as obvious areas for social support. This includes comprehensive sexual education and pregnancy prevention, accessible contraception, paid parental leave for longer than 12 weeks, accessible and affordable childcare (before school age, as well as during the summer), high-quality public education (through higher ed), and knowing that our children are safe from gun violence in school and the community.

Access to Family Planning

As a Women's and Maternal health nurse, I have seen firsthand, and on a very personal level, how this impacts real people. I've seen women that don't know how to prevent pregnancy, women with unplanned pregnancies who had not been appropriately educated on contraception, or faced significant barriers to accessing it.

PAID parental leave

As both a mom AND a Perinatal Mental Health nurse, I know how vitally important paid parental leave is for both the physical AND mental health of the infant, mother, and family. The opportunity to heal, to bond, to breastfeed (if desired), and to adjust to the changing family dynamic can only be guaranteed if paid parental leave is available. And this includes fathers as well. I am saddened to think of all the women I have met who are only able to take off 6 weeks, or 4 weeks, or 2 weeks. I know many women who have had complications during pregnancy and end up needing to take leave before the baby is born or have an infant in the NICU, and that time "off" counts against them, shortening their postpartum leave. Here in the US, with all of our wealth, education, and espoused family values, how are we letting this happen to women, infants, and families? This is flat-out wrong. We need more protected time off, and we need the burden of paying for leave off of the employer. It is our responsibility as a community to support ALL families.

Childcare

Right now we are facing a family and economic crisis. With federal childcare funds drying up, many childcare centers across the country will not be able to stay open. Those that do will have to raise their prices. This leads to 2 problems that affect all parents and caregivers, but even more so for lower income families.

A. There simply will not be enough spaces for all of the children that need to be taken care of so that parents can work

B. If it is even possible to find a spot, only wealthier families will be able to afford care. (Related- even then, the teachers are not able to earn a livable wage, which also needs to be addressed.)

There are so many negative outcomes to this. First, many 2-adult families will be forced to have one adult leave the workforce. Let's be completely honest- it is almost always the women who take on the childcare needs. Women will be leaving the workforce like we haven't seen in decades. Decades.

Lack of quality early education, with trained teachers, can impact children's development and learning for the rest of their lives. The economy is at risk as well, with some sources estimating $122 billion lost ANNUALLY in earnings, productivity, and revenue. Once more- this canNOT remain an individual parental responsibility. Accessible, affordable, fair childcare is essential for the future of our society, and thus it is every member's duty to contribute to the solution.

Fair and equal public education

Many of us, are aware of even the problems, like unequal funding, shutting down of schools, discrimination, book banning, inaccurate historical curriculums, outright poor quality of education, and the misuse of funds being used to pay for private and religious schools. Education is the path to everything else. I want to improve and preserve an ideal PUBLIC educational system, and I will work hard towards doing that.

Gun Safety

Our children now have to practice active shooter drills in school. They have to understand that at any time, they could have to face a shooter, while they are trying to learn. My own children's mental health has suffered from these drills. It is absolutely terrifying- for them, and for parents. I spend most of my time in denial about it because to do otherwise would make me panic every day I put them on the school bus.

But in a state like NH this can be a tough topic. People hunt. Live Free or Die. Many people simply understand guns as a way of life. Most of us know that nobody is trying to take anyone's guns away. What we desperately want to see are reasonable gun regulations that will finally allow us to feel safe being in public again. We don't want to worry about our children being shot in school. We canNOT continue this culture of violence. It MUST stop.