Comment: US policy generally advises against having children. Now our economy is paying the price | Opinion columns

The largest health strike in U.S. history was called off Thursday as Kaiser Permanente and unions representing 75,000 workers finally reached a tentative agreement. After ordering a planned three-day work stoppage, unions gave their employer a preview of what would happen if the standoff continued. Kaiser clearly wasn’t interested in seeing more.

That’s good news for American workers, who quickly felt the pressure of record inflation but were slow to benefit from the record profits that came with it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there have been 42 work stoppages involving at least 1,000 employees nationwide since last August. There’s a theme here, because workers have been put under too much pressure for too long – as if the corporate brain trust thought The Hunger Games was a how-to guide.

It’s not just that wages have been rising slowly, and it’s not just that the cost of housing and food has risen faster than inflation. Look at the barriers we have created to adequate child care.

Late last month, states were grappling with the loss of $39 billion in federal funding for child care, a financial disaster that threatens the solvency of 70,000 programs, the employment of more than 200,000 workers and the care of more than 3 million children .

“There was a child care crisis even before the pandemic,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Last month, she and other Senate Democrats introduced a bill to soften the blow of losing that aid. “This is an urgent economic priority at every level: childcare allows parents to go to work, allows businesses to hire workers, and it is an investment in our children’s future. The child care industry holds every sector of our economy in check.”

Before the pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that families’ spending on child care was about 40% higher than what was considered affordable. In addition, average wage increases this year are lagging behind last year’s pace. And the fact that the purchasing power gap caused by record inflation is expected to last until the end of 2024.

What exactly should working parents do?

While many employees offer childcare options, the fastest-growing professional sector – leisure and hospitality – is not exactly a leader in this area. In Germany, municipalities are legally obliged to offer child care. In America we are less accommodating. A “don’t have kids unless you can afford them” kind of attitude.

The thing is, we are running out of people who can afford to raise children without help.

September was the 33rd consecutive month in which the U.S. economy added new jobs. Labor force participation has increased and there are more than 9 million job openings nationwide. This is all great news – unless you need childcare. Then you need to figure out whether any of the jobs available to you pay more than you would spend on child care, assuming you’re not among the 50% of Americans who live in so-called child care deserts, areas of America where there are more preschool children there are available places.

“It’s a non-stop financial and logistical burden on the entire family,” Murray said.

Take your pick — Medicaid, welfare, Social Security — conservatives have a history of talking about entitlements and safety nets as if those who benefit from them are lazy and not part of the workforce. The reality of how inaccurate this assessment is will soon hit them in the face because of the connection between labor and childcare.

These people would rather cut government programs than fund welfare benefits, but here’s the rub: If aspiring workers can’t afford the work, how exactly is austerity supposed to address the problem?

When we talk about the work ethic of the “Greatest Generation,” we often skip over the part where the federal government came in and subsidized child care – building kindergartens and everything. Without this help, most of the 6 million women who kept this country running during World War II would not have been able to enter the workforce.

In contrast, today 68% of Oklahomans live in a child care desert. It is also estimated that the state is short 40,000 workers. Do you think this is a coincidence?

The rise of the gig economy, coupled with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, has helped create a path for more Americans to exit toxic work environments and be their own bosses. The major resignations and the wave of labor strikes further illustrate the shift in the relationship between labor and capital. But as seismic as these changes may be, the worst earthquake is yet to come. Paid family leave and affordable child care are no longer just on liberals’ wish lists.

Like the rest of the industrialized world, America is grappling with the fact that the idea that people want to work must also work for their children.

LZ Granderson is an Op-Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times.