WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: CHILD CARE
onja Candelaria would
probably be living in the
Pacific Northwest, work-
ing at her dream job of
public relations for a zoo,
if she hadn’t chosen to
have children.
“We’ve looked at other job opportu-
nities, in other places, in other states,
where we would like to live,” says Can-
delaria, 31. “But it came down to, do we
want to have children? Or do we want
to take this opportunity for a job?”
If she and her husband wanted
children, Candelaria says they knew
they would have to stay close to fam-
ily in Sacramento. They made their
choice nearly four years ago with the
birth of their first son. The couple
now has two young boys, and Can-
delaria’s mother cares for them when
the couple is at work. “There’s no way
we could afford child care,” she says.
“It’s more than $1,500 a month. That’s
more than rent for a lot of people.”
Despite all of this, the Candelar-
ias are among the lucky ones. The
Center for American Progress reports
51 percent of Americans lack access
to quality child care, creating child
care deserts. Half of the employees
surveyed without children in a recent
Bright Horizons study said they fac-
tored child care into their career deci-
sions whether or not they had or were
planning to have children. More than
half of working mothers surveyed said
a baby would likely cause them to quit
or change their job.
A 2015 poll conducted by The
Washington Post found that more
than 75 percent of mothers and half
of fathers had given up work oppor-
tunities, switched jobs or f lat-out
quit jobs due to a lack of paid leave
or child care options. According to
the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, child care is consid-
ered “affordable” if it costs no more
than 7 percent of a family’s income.
Infant care for one child in California
takes up to 22 percent of the median
family income for minimum state
licensing standards.
The outlook is grim in the Sacra-
mento area too. According to the Cali-
fornia Child Care Resource & Referral
Network, there are only enough child
care slots in Sacramento for about
27 percent of young children with
working parents. According to the
California Department of Education,
child care costs in Sacramento County
are more than $1,200 per month, and
nearly $1,300 in Placer and El Dorado
counties. They’re even higher in Yolo
County, where it’s about $1,400 per
month per child.
Many women these days delay
motherhood until their late 20s and
30s, when they are more financial-
ly stable and further along in their
careers. An employee in her 30s who
is an emerging leader in her company,
but departs — for any reason, includ-
The next generation of Act! ™ is here!
all-in-one CRM sales and marketing platform
Contact me for a demo & free trial
chris pumphrey | act! software coach
chris@actcoaching.com • 406.493.7047 • www.actcoaching.com
80
comstocksmag.com | March 2020