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The
Childcare Squeeze
By
Katalin Wolff
Holden and Rayment, like many parents, have learned
that infant care is the hardest to find. "Once
your child is toilet trained," says Holden, "there
are plenty of good places." Today, their daughter,
now seven, is enrolled in an after-school program,
and their son, who is four, attends a private day
care center near campus. They never did get a spot
in one of the university centers, but they are satisfied
with their son's facility.
Biochemistry
Professor Hazel Holden with her children,
Harrison, four, and Kelsey, seven.
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"It
gives us peace of mind to have him nearby," says
Holden. "We can run across the street during
the day just to say 'hi.'" Rayment adds that
it also enables them to spend more time with their
kids, since they can commute and have lunch together.
Ironically,
they're still dealing with the shortage of infant
care.
Holden
recently interviewed a woman for a post-grad position,
and one of the candidate's primary concerns was the
availability of childcare on campus. Rayment's assistant
is expecting, and he says that it would be much easier
if she had childcare near campus. "Otherwise, a
doctor's appointment could take her an entire morning,"
he says. "With our son so close during the day,
it only takes me about an hour."
Edlefson
has both good news and bad news for parents who seek
childcare near campus. The good news is that infant
care is now available, and there are more spaces for
preschool and school-age children than ever before.
Parents can choose from among seven university-affiliated
settings — all but one on campus.
The
bad news is that the total number of the university's
childcare spaces is still far from adequate.
Just
ask Mike Kraus. The UW System financial administrator
and his spouse, who also works, recently received
a shock when their babysitter decided to quit day
care, sending the couple scrambling for a place for
their sixteen-month-old son.
"It's
difficult when you get caught off guard like this,"
Kraus says. "We've called over a dozen places,
and there are long waiting lists everywhere."
Their top choice would be the UW Infant and Toddler
Center on University Avenue, which has only six full-time
and four part-time slots — and a waiting list of
more than one hundred families.
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