Parents hoping to get back to work face a child care crisis

Parents hoping to get back to work face a child care crisis

SeattlePI.com

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NEW YORK (AP) — A single father in New Jersey is taking unpaid leave from his job as a baker because he has no one to look after his son. A university employee in New York realizes she may never return to the office after her autistic daughter's child care center closed for good. A new mother in Utah uses vacation time to take two hours off from work each day.

The coronavirus pandemic has created a staggering child care crisis that threatens to undermine the reopening of the U.S. economy. More than one-third of families report that someone has stayed home from work to mind their children because of the outbreak, according to a nationwide survey by the Urban Institute, an economic policy research group.

Public schools in most states are closed for the remainder of the academic year. Many camps will not open this summer. Thousands of day cares are also closed, many of them following the lead of school districts, while some remain open only for children of essential workers. And the informal network of relatives and friends that many parents rely on has disintegrated in a world of social distancing.

Dan Cappilla saw other no choice but to take unpaid leave from his job as an overnight baker at a ShopRite in Manahawkin, New Jersey.

Before the pandemic his parents took turns spending the night looking after his 7-year-old son, Gavin. But he fears exposing them to the virus, especially since they live with his 90-year-old grandmother.

His manager offered him daytime hours, but with schools closed that didn't help. Cappilla needs to be home during the day to guide his son through remote lessons. Unable to pay next month’s rent, Cappilla is holding out for summer, when schooling won't be an issue and he hopes the virus will have ebbed enough for his parents to come back.

“My hands are tied," Cappilla said. “I have...

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