Helen Mayer is mother of twin boys. In March 2020, as the pandemic hit, Mayer’s first startup company failed. Simultaneously, the twins’ child care shut down. Mayer became a stay-at-home parent by default.
She started to apply for jobs, but had to turn down opportunities because she found access to child care that was safe, reliable, quality and affordable was illusory as COVID-19 spread. She started researching child care to better understand why a generation of parents – mothers in particular – were fleeing the workforce.
In July, Mayer reached out to several parenting communities and asked for input on child care solutions they were seeking. She received a whopping 2,000 responses in a week. She initially tested 50 child care swaps where parents were partnering with other families to coordinate care. Swaps with a stay-at-home parent providing care were, not surprisingly, the most successful. However, the working parents who were getting child care were thrilled, while those stay-at-home parents were not getting paid.
She convinced parents who were swapping care to switch to a model where parents who need child care pay a stay-at-home parent to care for their child. In October 2020, she started Otter with this model. By January 2021, Otter was launched in a second city and onboarded their 1,000th caregiver. By July, Otter was serving 3,500 providers and had raised $27.8 million from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and other funders to expand its efforts.
Otter is an example of a child care innovation born during the global pandemic, seeking to address the lack of supply of quality child care. Is it a wanted solution? Yes. Is it a panacea? No. The reality is that we need a diversity of solutions for the diversity of children and families’ needs.
The child care crisis predates the global pandemic. Child care was already unaffordable for 63% of parents. Half of families live in child care deserts. One in 3 working families struggle to find child care. Only 10% of the supply of child care is quality.
COVID-19 further exposed and exacerbated the severe inadequacies of existing child care options in regards to affordability, supply and quality. While policymakers are working on appropriate public policy and funding responses, the good news is that private, family demand-driven child care innovations and funding are on the rise.
Here are seven areas of child care innovations, which aim to:
1/ Lower the business-related barriers to becoming a child care provider and sustain as a micro-entrepreneur. Brightwheel helps child care providers manage attendance, billing, enrollment, learning plans and parent communication. The company raised $55 million in 2021 to expand its work.
Meanwhile, All Our Kin supports family child care providers on quality through licensing, coaching and group classes. As a nonprofit, it has received support from major philanthropies, including the collaborative Home Grown.
2/ Connect parents to child care providers through online marketplaces. Winnie is a marketplace where parents can identify child care, and child care providers can optimize enrollment and connect with resources. Similarly, CareLulu allows parents to search for child care providers. Urban Sitter connects parents to a network of nannies and caregivers.
3/ Provide community-based platforms to create support systems for providers and parents. Wonderschool is a platform connecting parents and high-quality family child care. In doing so, it fosters the provision of child care and education in smaller nurturing home-based environments.
Now deployed statewide in New Mexico, Indiana and Nevada, Wonderschool recently received a $25 million funding, led by Goldman Sachs, to accelerate its work with Black women child care providers and Black mothers. Similarly, MyVyllage supports family child care providers start providing services.
4/ Rethink business models to help employers provide care benefits. Vivvi (that recently raised $15 million in funding), LegUp and Kinside all target employers and connect working parents with child care. This sector is poised to grow, as companies with policies and tools that support parents have a leg up in recruiting, retaining and promoting talent.
5/ Support stay-at-home parents looking to supplement their income. In addition to Otter, Tinkergarten has reached 450,000 families through its play-based classes outdoors, led by trained parents who earn an income in leading the sessions.
6/ Encourage child care sharing. Carefully and Komae organize child care exchanges among families at little or no cost. Abulé leverages blockchain as barter for child care.
7/ Democratize access to child-centered models. Montessori public offerings have steadily grown throughout the country. Trust for Learning recently partnered with Head Start to increase Montessori pedagogy. Wildflower Schools is expanding its network of microschools bringing quality Montessori education to all children through one-room schools. Higher Ground is “mainstreaming and modernizing” Montessori through its network of over 80 sites.
Tinycare is also expanding its Montessori-inspired microcenters. Jeff Bezos’ Day One Fund committed $2 billion to Montessori-like education for young children from lower income backgrounds. The first school opened in October 2020, and it’s now expanding.
The pandemic has created an unparalleled need and opportunity for reimagining how Americans access and receive child care. Demand for quality solutions is rising, and innovations are meeting the diverse needs of families seeking child care. It is now time for the next piece of the child care puzzle: greater public funding to make access to innovations and quality solutions more equitable.
"care" - Google News
March 03, 2022 at 10:07PM
https://ift.tt/mfBCQtd
The Child Care Crisis: Innovations To The Rescue. - Forbes
"care" - Google News
https://ift.tt/gfOhdte
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "The Child Care Crisis: Innovations To The Rescue. - Forbes"
Post a Comment