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LA Debates Pay to Watch Your Own Kids
If you’re a working parent jealous of the stay-at-home set, cover your ears. Out-of-work parents in Los Angeles may actually get paid to watch their own kids!
With the state’s finances an utter disaster (sorry, it’s true,) LA is discussing a plan that would provide childcare payments to thousands of parents currently on welfare. In other words? They wouldn’t have to work, but they’d get money as if they were sending their kids to daycare.
The plan was hatched to answer cuts in the welfare-to-work benefits for state residents who get childcare subsidies so they can work. County officials say they will actually spend less by paying parents to stay home with kids six and under than they would if they provided both the welfare-to-work benefits AND childcare subsidies.
Except, I’ve always been a fan of welfare-to-work programs because they provide incentive to families along with the means to actually get a job. It’s easy to point a finger at an unemployed parent for not working, but without means to actually get out of the house and work (no help affording childcare being one of the biggies), they are stuck in a Catch 22. This new program might be cheaper, but it’s entirely counter-productive.
Instead of enabling parents to develop the means to provide for their families, it will make them that much more dependent on the system. Not to mention the inequity of paying one set of Americans to stay home with their kids while the Family Medical Leave Act sends new mothers back to work during the crucial early weeks of a baby’s life because they aren’t afforded a similar option.
Do you think this is a good idea?
Image: More4Kids
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3 Comments
Manjari commented on Jun 18 09 at 9:36 amI disagree. I don’t see how it’s counterproductive. First of all, jobs are scarce. Second, there is nothing wrong with a parent staying home and raising children who are too young to be in public school. Why is working and having babies and toddlers in day care the only positive situation possible? I am a fan of welfare to work programs too, and I agree that ultimately employment is better than no employment. But when so many people are out of work, it’s silly for the state to spend money on childcare so that parents can just be endlessly looking for work.
GP commented on Jun 18 09 at 11:58 amTrue dat. But, they’ve got to put a cap on the number of kids/pay ratio, so they don’t squeeze em out just to get money. And they should be required to do some kind of educational component.
zaksmom commented on Aug 04 09 at 9:50 pmConsidering how strapped for cash CA is, I can’t fault them for this. But I think this should be offered first to parents who plan to take online classes and/or work from home. That way, they are moving towards independence, while providing the most affordable care for their children- their own.
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