Child care is often the biggest household bill after the rent or mortgage. With a year of full-time child care for a 4 year old averaging over $14,000 annually in Westchester, most families struggle to find care that is both affordable and meets the emotional and educational needs of their children. Most parents are left to their own devices to pay for child care, in contrast to college, which often provides financial assistance even to moderate income families.
While Westchester County has many amazing child care and after school options for parents, there are also programs that will not necessarily prepare young children for educational success. And then there are illegal child care businesses that do not comply with NY's regulatory requirements. Parents need more help in navigating our confusing "child care market".
NY is actually behind most states in the nation when it comes to the scope of early learning systems and services. Nearly 30 states have already implemented quality rating improvement systems, giving parents comprehensive and clear
indicators of quality to guide their child care and early learning choices. NY’s
version, QUALITYstarsNY, is not yet fully rolled out, held back by insufficient state funding.
Westchester women need affordable child care choices that will not only allow them to work, but provide reliable care and rich learning for their children. If you have something to say about child care, come to the first ever Westchester Women’s Summit on Saturday, March 2nd at the Yonkers Riverfront Library. Organized by the Westchester Women's Agenda, the Summit will bring together hundreds of women from across the county sharing their concerns, their needs and their aspirations - about jobs, health care, legal services, children's services and more. The free event runs from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm; registration is required.
For more information or to register, go to westwomenssummit.eventbrite.com.
For more info on child care, contact the Child Care Council of Westchester at (914) 761-3456 or visit our website www.ChildCareWestchester.org.
Kathy Halas, Executive Director, Child Care Council of Westchester and member of the Board, Westchester Women's Agenda.
This is about expenditures per GDP on poverty and how much we still have, slightly different but still horrible. We spend more and get less. Anyone who thinks that we are not geared here towards keeping the poor poor and dependent needs to look at this.
All of the countries above us have lower percentages of child poverty than we do. Actually only Romania is higher, and they are not one of the 14. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/05/29/491443/un-report-child-poverty/?mobile=nc
Are you equating abortion as a form of birth control in your question?
Europe's fiscal crisis has everything to do with the poorly implemented Euro currency and the bank collapse, nothing with childcare subsidies.
Contraceptives are as available as soap. Leave that lazy excuse alone.
You continue to compare completely irrelevant things. Those taxes pay for OUR defense, if people can't afford medical care they can DIE. That's YOUR child, not OUR. Having children you can't afford nor can be there to raise should not be rewarded. There are PLENTY who CAN afford their own children, so there is no need for people to have children they can't pay for themselves so here's an idea, why don't people start paying for things they don't need themselves before you start taking more from my pocket.
So why should the people who are irresponsible and flat out stupid get my money when I made many of the same decisions they COULD have and raised my kids with out making someone else pay for it. Children should not be brought into this world with the assumption that someone else will pay for it. It's not right to "tax" the responsible ones who A) waited to raised their children til they could afford to and now have to pay a tax so others DON'T B) raised their children without the assistance of the government and now are expected to pay for someone else C) CHOSE NOT to have kids because of the high costs and now have to incur additional ones because other people aren't intelligent or feel entitled Just because I'm responsible and make good choices shouldn't mean I now have to pay more. Saying "people will always be responsible" is not a justification for making me pay for them. There's contraceptives, planned parenthood etc. The only time it takes a village is if the kid belongs to the village idiot.
It only benefits the people who can't afford to support themselves, I get NO benefit from paying to raise SOMEONE ELSE'S child. There are enough people who CAN afford to support themselves that there is no need for these people who can't afford kids to keep having them. Period. I'm not sure how you think forcing society to pay for a tax that mostly only the irresponsible will benefit from helps all of us. your taxing parents that ALREADY paid their OWN money to raise their kids or can't afford their own at all to raise YOUR kid. In no logical way can you compare military spending to giving irresponsible parents money for having something they can't afford. Military spending defends HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS os US citizens. National security isn't at risk because I don't want to pay for people to have something they have no business having.