This Monday December 14th on KPFA Radio’s “Women’s Magazine” we look at how racial Capitalism and Patriarchy have created a punitive underfunded child care system in the U.S. where the the average hourly wage of child care workers is $10.72 per hour, many of the women in need of child care are black and brown women and few get any government support in accessing child care. This system is informed by the history of slavery in the U.S. where women’s job to reproduce the work force is required but never supported. And the reality in our neoliberal economy is that many women especially women of color are the essential workers during covid and are working 2-3 jobs just to survive and yet rarely getting any government support for child care.
Today we talk to Marcy Whitebook from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley, Clarissa Douthard with Parent Voices Oakland and Loira Limbal director of the award winning documentary about child care “Through the Night” that shows how caregivers balance the demands of “women’s work” while navigating systemic racism, sexism and classism in the U.S. today.
And this Monday December 14th is also a fund drive show for KPFA so please call in during the hours of 1-2pm PST to KPFA Radio at 1.800.439.5732 or online at KPFA.org and donate any amount you can to help keep voices like this and stories about women on the frontlines stay on the air. It is because we are a listener sponsored station that we can have these radical and unheard voices on the air. So please call and support us this Monday between 1-2pm PST. And please share this announcement with others.
Thank you
Lisa Dettmer