OPINION: Why we should support child care for Alaska workers

Updated: 5 Hours ago Published: 6 Hours ago

We must face the fact that our economy rests on the shoulders of many hidden resources, including underpaid and unpaid people. Market forces do not value these resources; They have traditionally been treated merely as a social function and are therefore neither recognized nor paid for their indirect contribution to a company’s production. All this in the interest of increasing profits for the investor.

Let’s think about what led us to the child care crisis we face today. Mom stayed home to raise her children so that Dad and the children could then become productive citizens and contribute to the GDP. Their work is not counted in GDP because they are not paid for it. The government and the private sector benefit from this free labor to produce goods and services at no cost to them.

Nowadays, child care providers are available to take care of our precious children so that mothers can also work to contribute to the GDP. But why pay them livable wages – they’re just an extension of previously unpaid stay-at-home moms anyway, right? Now our children are cared for by underpaid, overworked and unprotected (no health and pension benefits) workers. And many of our policymakers don’t see this as a problem.

Child care must be a three-way partnership between the public, private and philanthropic sectors. Our government is willing to give tax incentives to oil companies so they can produce more energy and feed the rest of the economy. If they can do that, they can also do the same by subsidizing the childcare sector so that parents can afford to work. Philanthropic partners can help close the gap caused by increased tuition fees.

As Alaskans who care about the future of our children, those who care for them, and a robust economy, we should support the state’s Proposition 1 to pay fair wages to all workers and support the Municipality of Anchorage’s Proposition 14 to increase wages for childcare workers special. Imagine a prosperous economy. Imagine the children of our future cared for by happy and healthy workers.

Yaso Thiru is Professor Emeritus of Accounting and Business Administration at Alaska Pacific University. She has lived in Anchorage since 1988 and is fortunate to have high-quality, affordable child care for her two (now adult) children. She is the founder of First Entrepreneur LLC, a major initiative that advocates for and supports worker cooperatives in Alaska (www.myceliaak.com).

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