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

It’s good news for American workers,

aborers,

who were quick to feel the pressure of record high inflation, but slow to reap the benefits of the record profits that came with it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we have seen 42 work stoppages involving at least 1,000 workers nationwide since last August. There’s a theme here: employees have been pressured for too long, as if the corporate brains thought The Hunger Games was a manual.

It’s not just that wages have been rising slowly, and it’s not just that increases in housing and food costs have outpaced inflation. Look at the barriers we’ve created to adequate childcare.

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

‘There was a child

–

healthcare 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 this aid. This is an urgent economic priority at every level:

Childcare

It’s what allows parents to go to work, businesses to hire workers, and it’s an investment in our children’s future. The child

–

The healthcare sector supports every sector of our economy.

Before the pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that what families spent on child care was about 40% higher than what was considered affordable. Combine that with the fact that this year’s average wage increases 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 white collar industries offer children

–

healthcare options, the fastest growing leisure and hospitality professional sector is not exactly a leader in this field. In Germany, municipalities are legally obliged to offer childcare. In America there were less accommodating. Sort of like, don’t have kids unless you can afford them

kind of

attitude.

The point is that there are almost no people left who can afford to raise children without help.

September marked the 33rd consecutive month in which the US economy created jobs. Labor market participation has increased and there are more than 9 million vacancies nationwide. This is all great news unless you need childcare. Then you have to figure out whether any of the available jobs would pay more than you would spend on childcare, assuming you aren’t among the 50% of Americans who live in so-called childcare deserts in areas across America. where previously -K bodies exceed the number of available spots.

It’s a nonstop financial and logistical burden for the entire family, Murray said.

Make your choice Medicaid, Social Security, and conservatives have historically talked about entitlements and safety nets as if those who would benefit from them are lazy and not part of the workforce. The reality of how inaccurate that assessment is is about to hit them in the face because of the connection between labor and child care.

These people would rather cut government programs than fund social services, but here’s the problem: if future workers can’t afford to work, how exactly are austerity policies going to address this problem?

When we talk about the work ethic of the “greatest generation,” we often skip the part where the federal government stepped in and built subsidized childcare centers and all that. Especially without that help

by

the 6 million women who kept this country running

during the Second World War

would not have been able to enter the labor market.

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

The proliferation of the gig economy, coupled with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, has allowed more Americans to walk away from toxic work environments and be their own bosses. The Great Resignation and the wave of labor strikes further emphasize the shift in the relationship between labor and capital. But as seismic as these changes are, the biggest earthquake is yet to come. Paid family leave and affordable child care are no longer just items on liberals’ wish lists.

Like the rest of the industrialized world, America is coming to grips with the fact that if you want people to work, the idea has to work for their children.

@LZGranderson