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I'm going to take the reverse position. I don't like this policy. I think it would be much better to provide a one year paid stipend so that a parent can be ho

• MisterTea 1y ago
  > This entire structure is set up to keep the boss happy while a stranger raises your child during their most formative and vulnerable years. I can agree. I had grandparents to take are of me. During a family emergency I stayed with a friends family for a few weeks. We had a lot of people in our family and friends to step up who were all located in the same city. Now everyone moves a thousand miles away from their existing support networks for a tech job.
  • pitpatagain 1y ago
    Americans move significantly less today than they did in the mid 20th century, not more: https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/03/14/why-might-americans-be-moving-less https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/03/14/why-might-ameri...
  • Loudergood 1y ago
    Student loans can really force this.
• Avshalom 1y ago
  This isn't just for babies. My coworker's 12yo is covered by this because he's got cancer and is too immunocompromised to go to school.
  • mrits 1y ago
    I'm not sure we want to treat this as a related issue unless you want this kid to be sent to their death at 18
    • Avshalom 1y ago
      Yeah not to be a downer here but if he's still on chemo in 6 years I don't think it's the lack of a baby sitter that's gonna kill him.
• tripplyons 1y ago
  How is your solution any different from the US student loan policies that have increased the price of college in the US? Won't subsidizing demand with a stipend significantly increase the price of what it can be spent on?
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• Muromec 1y ago
  >I think it would be much better to provide a one year paid stipend so that a parent can be home with the children during their tender years. Or just learn from the best proven strategy -- 3 years maternity leave, free childcare from the year of 3, early retirement for grandparents who can be bothered to stay with kids so parents can have some time off. That of course would be totally haram and communism, so instead the policy is to have immigration from places, but that is also totally haram and communism. Pick your poison.
  • abustamam 1y ago
    The western idea of individualism and the villification of the lower-class has really fucked American society. "I don't wanna pay taxes for [insert thing that doesn't benefit me]" or "if you're poor it's your fault" in a country where costs of basic necessities like medical care, insurance, food, housing, school, are skyrocketing is insane to me. I thought everyone had the right to life, liberty, and property, but it seems like if one can't afford to live then they are just left by the wayside.
    • Draiken 1y ago
      Honestly reading comments in these types of news on HN makes me lose some hope in humanity. People are actively against anything that's not helpful for them and salivate at the idea of somehow profiting on top without a care for the human needs underneath it all. They cite government inefficiencies when they just want to "fix them" by pocketing the difference. It's depressing how much capitalism propaganda is deeply ingrained in so many supposedly smart people.
      • abustamam 1y ago
        Yeah. It's easy to feel powerless too. Yeah the govt has its inefficiencies, but an inefficient program that helps people is better than no program at all. So what if it means that I pay a few extra (hundred, thousand) dollars a year in taxes? If that's the cost for housing people, I'd gladly pay it. And as if the appeal to humanity weren't enough, how about the fact that it'll keep the streets of SF and other cities cleaner?
• pavlov 1y ago
  It's not one or the other. Scandinavian countries provide ample parental leave and also universal childcare.
• smeeth 1y ago
  Hate to break it to you, but many kids actually do better away from their parents than with them. It's extremely sad, but a consistent finding in early childhood education is that the children who thrive most in daycares tend to come from the least advantaged backgrounds. So a policy of paying parents to stay home would mostly benefit kids who are already well off.
  • yardstick 1y ago
    Kids are social and like playing and learning from other kids. Daycare lets them do just that. It’s a great thing and every toddler I’ve met who wasn’t in daycare was behind in something. Especially verbal skills. Plus daycare allows women to continue their career progression. It’s soo important. Not every woman wants to end their career as a mother to a young kid. Daycare enables successful women to thrive and still have families.
    • garciasn 1y ago
      Your anecdote is just that. All of it is highly dependent on the child, their environment, and the 'educator'. Please don't make assumptions based on your limited exposure; it's not helpful.
      • Spivak 1y ago
        Your "it depends" argument is that some kids aren't social, don't like playing with other kids, are better off not having exposure to social interaction with peers and practice talking. If this is the criticism then it's a glowing endorsement of daycare and school.
        • garciasn 1y ago
          No; it depends on the 'educator'. A daycare that doesn't have kids interacting in a positive way could be just as detrimental as a parent that doesn't socialize their children externally to the home.
    • 1y ago
• TomasBM 1y ago
  So, maternity/paternity leave in line with European systems? Or did you have something else in mind?
• rexpop 1y ago
  Capitalism historically depends on the unpaid reproductive labor of women in the domestic sphere, work that is socially undervalued and made invisible, which supports capitalist systems rather than liberates women. Instituting a paid stipend for home parenting, while superficially supportive, risks reinforcing this systemic isolation by formalizing the separation of caregivers (mainly women) from the workforce and political arenas where power is exercised and negotiated. Women confined to domesticity become disconnected from their own potential and larger societal participation.
• wetoastfood 1y ago
  Childcare doesn't end at 1 year though. If you look at public schools as child care, most don't start until kindergarten (about 5 years old). What do you do for the remaining 4 years? And during summer break? And after-school care? This program covers all of those. Forcing parents back into the workforce early is unfortunate and does need to be addressed. However, this program seems to be addressing a different and still vital issue.
  • kenjackson 1y ago
    6 years paid stipend would fix this problem.
    • KittenInABox 1y ago
      Would 6 years paid stipend also help for the rest of the woman's life as she has to restart her career?
    • declan_roberts 1y ago
      Before having our first child, I made a commitment to my wife that I would provide an 84+ year stipend.
• afavour 1y ago
  As a parent I’m going to disagree with your disagreement. I was lucky enough to get months of parental leave initially. I am glad I got it but at the same time I don't buy the tender, formative, vulnerable stuff too deeply. They're poop and vomit machines that nap and have very, very little interaction with the world around them. The primary benefit was for me to not have to work while deeply sleep deprived. As my first got a little older I felt incredibly guilty dropping them off so I could go to work but that feeling very quickly subsided when I realised just how much they were thriving with the company of knowledgable teachers and bunch of peers their own age to interact with. I still get plenty of time with my kids and we enjoy our time together immensely. And they also enjoy their time with their friends at nursery/preschool. “Stay at home with parent” isn’t actually that common when you look back historically. Childrearing has almost always taken a village.
  • savagej 1y ago
    You're an idiot. I have a toddler. They are absorbing everything and gaining a personality from day one. You are not the one doing it.
    • afavour 1y ago
      Your presumption is that the parent is the only appropriate person to guide a child as they absorb their world. I disagree. I think teachers and peers play a valuable role too. (In fact, judging by the way you conduct yourself online I’d say the more influences t your child has beyond you the better)
    • AlexeyBelov 1y ago
      > You're an idiot. Really? You're starting your comment with that? EDIT: my mistake, it's a troll account with negative karma.
  • abustamam 1y ago
    I wonder if there is room for disruption here. Like, a NextDoor for childcare. I guess that's just group chats with your neighbors who have kids, but many people don't even know their neighbors. Maybe this is something that needs to be solved organically, not with an app.
• foxyv 1y ago
  It's a pretty nice consolation prize considering the almost total lack of parental leave in the United States. When someone throws me a lifeline I'm not going to complain that it isn't a certified life preserver.
• gcheong 1y ago
  I think you're talking about parental leave which is a different thing and another area where the US falls short compared to other developed countries. This is to provide care for your kids after you would have gone back to work in any regular scenario until the kids are old enough to start school.
• potato3732842 1y ago
  Worse. Not just a "stranger" but a subset of strangers running "real businesses". I would rather my kid be raised by a) spouse b) grandparents c) no-habla cash only daycare (who are catering to customers who's average values are much closer to mine than an above the table business). Only after all those options are exhausted do I look toward a "real business". So basically this is a subsidy of the 4th place option.
  • lagniappe 1y ago
    >no-habla cash only daycare Yo, what the fuck HN?
    • potato3732842 1y ago
      You send your kid to the daycare run by foreigners to learn a language. I send my kid to the daycare run by foreigners to learn cultural values. WeAreNotTheSame.jpg
      • declan_roberts 1y ago
        The whitewashed term for this is "Spanish immersion daycare"
      • programjames 1y ago
        I'm confused, what cultural values do you want them to learn?
    • fragmede 1y ago
      just flag it, and child comment below, and move on with your life. if it really bothers you, email hn@ycombinator.com. any ignorant mothertrucker can create an account and just spew hate. it's, ah, a design choice.
  • afavour 1y ago
    > Worse. Not just a "stranger" but a subset of strangers running "real businesses". Real businesses subject to real inspections and real assessments, you mean? With "strangers" who need to have qualifications and background checks? To each their own of course but I'd prefer somewhere I know is actually judged to be a safe environment than some under the table option.
• janalsncm 1y ago
  > provide a one year paid stipend so that a parent can be home That is also several times more expensive. With child care, you can divide one worker’s salary over multiple kids. You are talking about paying a salary for each kid.
• jordanpg 1y ago
  This sounds like something I would have written before I was a parent. And please remember: not everyone's family situation is the same. There are single parents, all kinds of employment scenarios, chronic illnesses or disabilities, sick parents, income differentials, and on and on and on. Your single data point about what worked for your situation does not necessarily apply to everyone else's situation.
• _petronius 1y ago
  These are complementary, not opposing policies. You can have funded childcare and longer parental leave funded by the state. I live somewhere that has both (not in the US, perhaps obviously).
• seizethecheese 1y ago
  The most formative year is not 0-1. My daughter is 2 and it’s just now starting to be formative.
• coffeemug 1y ago
  More importantly it would give parents options: - stay home with your child and take the income - hire a babysitter - hire a better babysitter by adding a little cash - take your child to daycare - take your child to better daycare by adding a little cash If the government also runs daycare centers that adds another option of taking your child to gov daycare. It also forces the gov and private daycares to compete. The current policy penalizes people on the margin-- maybe an extra $500/mo would get your child much better daycare, but you're stuck between (likely) low quality government care, or losing a huge chunk of income to solve the problem yourself.
• MandieD 1y ago
  We kind of do both in Germany. I say "kind of" becaue that year of parental leave (14 months total, shared between parents as desired) is capped at the lower of 1800 EUR/mo, or 2/3 of previous year's net monthly salary - that was significantly lower than either of our net pay, but we did it anyway. And once the little guy was a year old, daycare for not quite enough hours to work full time (7am - 4pm) was a mere 500 EUR/mo, and would have been less had we not been a 1.5 engineer couple. It drops to 200 EUR/mo when the kids turn three. For awhile, Bavaria was considering giving a rebate to families who didn't use preschool, but then I think they realized that the people whose minds would be changed by an extra couple hundred Euro per month in their pockets were a lot of the people who this rather conservative state really, really wanted to have send their kids to preschool as soon as possible. This goes hand in hand with very strong protections for parents choosing to work part time. My employer had to allow me to drop to part time for up to three years (prorated salary, of course), with an option to extend it until my kid is eight. Result? I'm still working in the same department and position I was before the kid, but spend several hours a day with him. He took to daycare like a duck to water and still loves preschool; it turns out that my little guy is way more social than either of his parents.
  • em-bee 1y ago
    strong protections for parents choosing to work part time how long ago was that? i thought i read that the right to work part time is now universal, that is after some time in a job you can just request it, and it can't be denied, unless there are some special circumstances (and i think small companies are exempt too), children or not.
    • MandieD 1y ago
      About two years ago - it is possible that the policy has been loosened since then, but I'm not in human resources. The really strong protections are the first three years after a child is born - you have to be allowed to work anywhere from 15 to 30 hours/week, and be allowed to change it with a few weeks' notice ("Elternzeit" - covers both parental leave and this part time working arrangement). I had to give a reason for wanting to do the next five years part-time, but "child" resulted in no further questions. I had to commit to only being allowed to work part time, and for the weekly hours I requested for those five years; my employer could choose to accept a request to change them or to go back to full time before the five years is up, but they're not legally obligated to.