L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman rallies with working moms over child care crisis

The day after Mother’s Day, Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman joined working moms at a rally in Northridge to call attention to the dire shortage of affordable child care in Los Angeles and across California.

“I would gladly give up (Mother’s Day) if my state government were to tell me that we are going to fully fund the cost of child care for every single working parent that deserves it here in the state of California,” said Raman, the mother of two second-graders, on Monday, May 13. “That is what we are here to ask for; this is nothing more than basic dignity.”

Waverly Stone holds her 6-month-old grandchild Zakai Pharaoh, as she stands with other childcare providers and working moms during the nationwide campaign, A Day Without Childcare, in Reseda on Monday, May 13, 2024 as they rally for national childcare and livable wages for childcare providers.

Stone, of Rialto, who cares for 14 children including her grandson, closed her daycare on Monday to attend the rally.

Max Arias, executive director of SEIU Local 99, joins childcare providers and working moms during the nationwide campaign, A Day Without Childcare, in Reseda on Monday, May 13, 2024 as they rally for national childcare and livable wages for childcare providers.

A Day Without Child Care

Alexandra Orchard, a doctor who had to pause her residency to take an in home assessment position so she could also care for her two children, stands with childcare providers during the nationwide campaign, A Day Without Childcare, in Reseda on Monday, May 13, 2024 as they rally for national childcare and livable wages for childcare providers.

The event took place outside of Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center and is part of a nationwide campaign called A Day Without Child Care when child care providers and parents come together to demand affordable child care for families and living wages for care workers.

During the rally, working mothers shared the career and lifestyle sacrifices they have had to make to afford child care. Dr. Alexandra Orchard, for example, said she had to put off her medical residency because she was unable to coordinate affordable child care around her 12-hour shifts, many of them at night.

“Having spent years studying, obtaining my medical degree, training to become a doctor, I cannot begin to describe how it feels to have everything upended due to a lack of child care,” she said.

“How many more mothers and parents must be forced out of the workforce for California to realize the child care system is in crisis?” she said. “We cannot continue on like this. Child care is not just a support system for families. It is a critical infrastructure that upholds society.”

Max Arias, chair of the labour union Child Care Providers United, criticized Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to freeze state subsidies for child care in this year’s budget. Critics note that doing so would mean the state government would no longer meet its promise to provide 81,000 new state-subsidized childcare slots by 2026.

“This will only result in poor families not being able to receive needed child care subsidies,” he said. “California cannot fix our current budget outlook by making cuts to the safety net, or balancing the budget on the backs of working families.”

“So today, on national day without child care, we demand that Governor Newsom and state legislators make sure working mothers do not have to go without child care.”