Swine flu could have a devastating affect on working families, and not a single member of the family has to get sick to do it.
School
closures are already happening around the country, and President Obama
has warned many more may happen in the coming weeks. He's suggested we
set up contingency plans for daycare, but here's the rub: daycare
centers are being advised not to take in kids from the schools where
the outbreaks are occurring - because they might will make the spread
even more dangerous (especially for the younger kids who are regulars
at the centers).
So what are parents to do? Stay home with their kids?
They're
federally protected by the family medical leave act to do so (as long
as they haven't already used up their twelve weeks alloted FMLA time
this year for other family emergencies). But there's no provision to
ensure parents are paid to do so. And there's no provision for
employers to make up for the loss in productivity.
In other words? Swine flu isn't just affecting the tourism industry
and the pork industry. It could well hurt the economy as a whole, and
lower income families specifically.
With other school closings
(which I have, at times, advocated for), there is generally advanced
warning. With this, there is no clue what schools might close and when.
With other closings there's also rarely a reason for daycares to keep
kids out - if anything, vacations help the daycare industry because
there's an influx of kids and their paying parents.
So what can parents do? Call other parents. Figure out a playdate
schedule for a few days so your two kids can play together while one
parent works, then switch off the next day. At the very least, it will
lessen the number of days out of work for you. Find a neighbor who is
unemployed because of the other economic issues and see if they'll
watch your kids (chances are, they won't cost as much as a traditional
daycare anyway, especially if you're handing them cash off the books).
If my daughter's nursery school closes down, I'll have to do my own
scrambling, but I can't say I blame school officials. The first superintendent to leave a school open and watch a child die is going to face one heck of a lawsuit.
Image:PBS
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