EP 358 Why is Daycare So Expensive–and Important?

A demographer we recently did a podcast with reminded us that every child born from 1985 on is more valuable than those born before, due to the declining birth rate in America. When we stare into the eyes of a beautiful newborn baby in America, we are gazing upon nothing less than our future as a society. As young women today have many things to consider in their 20’s–starting a career, getting out of debt, finding a partner, buying the first home–and having a baby, perhaps, the baby piece is often the one that gets left to last or never done at all. And while many suggest that free public college tuition is an idea whose time has come, perhaps the true need is on the front end for government support of daycare. The less that stands in the way of a couple both working and having a family will grow in importance to society in the coming years. For that reason we have a freewheeling discussion with Florence Ann Romano, the Windy City Nanny, about this crucial subject. This presidential campaign is the first, I recall, where a First Five Years’ policy was seriously brought up for discussion. As the commodity, known as childcare, increases, along with its cost, you are destined to hear much more about it as an emerging issue in our society. That discussion starts here.

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