If you are a parent with young children, it is likely that your child is sick or has recently become ill and you and your partner should find someone to take time off from work again to stay home. I’m in a hurry.
My kids have been ill the whole weekend after preschool orientation. My 4 year old visited her classroom on Friday morning. By Monday she started running a fever and she had to miss the first day of school. That mid-August virus lasted long enough for her to return to class and take home the RSV. It took over two weeks for all four members of my family to recover. We all developed infections that required multiple rounds of antibiotics and steroids.
My kids got another virus before they were done with the antibiotics. And one more thing. The pediatrician’s office became our second home and for two months a family member had a fever. My girlfriend’s 2 year old had recurring ear infections and needed surgery to have tubes inserted.
Our family’s trajectory is nothing unusual so far. Unprecedented levels of his RSV and flu, along with rising COVID cases, have overwhelmed pediatric hospital systems, leading to shortages of medicines (Tamiflu, amoxicillin, albuterol) to treat common childhood ailments.
Worse, this surge coincides with a childcare crisis marked by understaffing, closures and a lack of affordable options.
As a result, more than 100,000 Americans lost their jobs in October due to childcare issues. This is the highest number ever recorded in the United States and is even higher than during the height of the pandemic.
Most of my friends were in that 100,000. Some have been able to try working from home while caring for sick children on the couch. But a couple I know in New Mexico lost 13 days of work in total during her 7 weeks when her 2-year-old twins contracted COVID. hand-foot-and-mouth disease; and RSV and other febrile viruses that closed her daycare twice.
Aside from the non-renewed child tax credit, the United States has not enacted any major policies to support parents since the pandemic began, exposing our country’s broken parenting system.
The United States is one of eight countries in the world without paid parental leave, and the only member of the 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) without one.
Most OECD countries also offer parental leave, sometimes called home care leave, which allows parents to provide short-term care for sick children without sacrificing wages. This type of vacation acknowledges the reality of having young children. Guaranteed to find a job that offers flexibility to care for children with fever, cough, gastroenteritis, sore throat and other conditions that parents across the country are familiar with. This is an important tool for keeping parents in the workforce and limiting viral outbreaks that strain schools, daycares and families when parents feel compelled to send their sick child away.
Access to paid parental and caregiver leave should be a basic right. Solo paid leave isn’t a panacea for parenting needs, but it’s a big step in the right direction.
Children get sick. Sometimes, like this fall, many of them do. You can start helping.
Sarah Hunter Simonson is a freelance writer based in Memphis. ©2022 Los Angeles Times. Tribune Content is distributed by her agency.
