The Cut - Day Care Is Broken

The first time I dropped my daughter off at day care, I couldn’t think straight. After spending the months after her birth caring for her around the clock, I felt like I had suddenly abandoned her. What I didn’t expect was how quickly I would come to love it. My days were no longer an endless slog of feeding and trying to get the baby to stop crying. I started to recognize myself again and actually look forward to the time I spent with my daughter. It wasn’t totally clear what she did all day, but she seemed happy enough when we picked her up.

Of course, that child care, which allowed me to do my job, came at a cost: $16,500 a year. It turns out that’s actually cheap. According to the Treasury Department, child care is unaffordable for more than 60 percent of families who need it. Parents I spoke to in recent months reported spending anywhere between $15,000 to $25,000 a year to send a kid to day care — and far more if they have multiple children. In much of the country, day care costs more than in-state college tuition. Many families spend more on child care than they do on rent.

We’re always being told to drink more water, but honestly, at what cost? After five long years, SZA is giving us the best holiday gift of all: a new album. It’s cold and flu season, so clean your keyboard, ya filthy animal. When Naomi Biden gets married at the White House this weekend, she’ll join an exclusive club. Wimbledon changed its all-white clothing rule for women to make an exception for more period-friendly, dark-colored underwear. Gabby Petito’s family has been awarded $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit settlement against Brian Laundrie’s estate. Lab-grown meat is one step closer to being on plates. At what point do the other 47 continental states decide to detach Florida from the rest of us and let it float off in the ocean? And Dionne Warwick better get in line.

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