Child Care: The impact in your wallet…

Today and America the average costs of child care for a year is just about the same as paying a year of college education! Ladies, did you get that? The average costs for child care in america is just about the same as paying for a year of college?!

So not only is the costs of child care on the rise, but trying to get decent child care is nearly impossible unless you can afford to dish out the big bucks, and in today’s expensive reality with gas almost $5.00 a gallon (and for some of us Americans it already is), and food prices rising as fast as 1 percent a month (yeah, you got that right, that grocery bill from last month will be atleast 1 percent higher this month!) who can afford to pay $220.00 a week for child care! Well, as a mother you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, you have to work to pay the bills and on the other hand you can’t afford to pay for child care. This is a reality that many familes are facing today. So many families are sitting down to make some really tough decisions, should I stay home? Should my partner stay home? Should I ask for a raise? So many questions, and not quite enough answers.

Well, my best advice my sisters is to really take a hard look at your current situation today and make the best choice for your household. After you have done that, we as sisters need to band together and take this situation to the forefront of this current political campaign. We need AFFORDABLE QUALITY CHILD CARE AND WE NEED IT NOW!

We need to demand our legislators to require companies where at least 25 percent of their workforce are full time workers provide assistance with child care. We need to require the government to provide more funding to child care owners and business owners more programs like a food program in order to keep their costs down and pass the savings on to we parents. We have alot of issues that need to be pushed to the forefront and child care costs are one that we sisters deal with everyday!

Trust me, you are not the only one struggling to make those weekly payments…don’t believe me? Invite a couple of the moms from your childs class and spark up a conversation about it, you’ll see you have a whole army of moms and dads ready to go into battle with these crazy child care prices!

WHO IS DAVID PATERSON?

David Paterson was  born May 20, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. Paterson was born legally blind as he has ‘Optical Atrophy.’ He was born with no sight in his left eye and severely limited vision in his right eye. Mr. Paterson received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1977 and his Jurist Doctorate from Hofstra Law School in 1982. At present, Mr. Paterson is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University School for International & Public Affairs.

Mr. Paterson was elected Lt. Governor on November 7, 2006. However, he has been sworn in as the Governor of New York since Eliot Spitzer resigned from the position amid role in soliciting prostitutes. On the other hand, Paterson has a long history of public service, in 1985 he was elected to the New York State Senate representing Harlem.

In 2002, he was elected Minority Leader of the State Senate. As a matter of fact, he still lives in Harlem with his wife Michelle and their two children Ashley and Alex. He is the son of Basil Pateson who was the 1st African American Secretary of State of New York State. Mr. David Paterson was the the 1st African American vice-chair of the National Democratic Party. He is just the 4th African American to hold the position of Governor in the U.S. The first, governor P.B.S. Pinchback in Louisiana in 1872; 2nd, Douglas Wilder Virginia in 1990; 3rd, Deval Patrick currently in Massachusetts 2007; and 4th, David Paterson currently in 2008.

Among his other accomplishments, he is a member of the American Foundation for the Blind, Democratic National Convention, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Board of the Achilles Track Club as a member he competed and completed the New York City marathon in 1999. He received national critical acclaim for his role to preserve an African American burial ground discovered at a Federal building in Manhattan. Through his leadership he was able to secure Federal funding for the project in 1997. He states; “through the discovery of the African American burial grounds, our history has at last come to the surface for all of us to know and respect.”

Although, some of his critical analysis has been controversial. For example, Paterson was the one who led the successful legislative effort to have a voter approved bond for 1 billion dollars in 2007 for stem cell research. In addition, he has been a vocal advocate for strong action to combat domestic violence. Also, he is the primary champion fro women and minority owned business in N.Y. He has also demanded statewide alternative energy strategies. In addition, he is the leading advocate for the visually and physically impaired. Through all of his accomplishments Mr. Paterson hasn’t forgotten where he comes from.

In his own words; “You never get to any level of leadership where your race is not a factor.” Although he adds; “You don’t want to be the first; you want to be the first of many.”