(10-18-2021 06:28 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-18-2021 06:10 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-18-2021 03:04 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-18-2021 02:29 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(10-18-2021 01:42 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  (there are still millions of kids pre-school age in the US that need to be looked after).

Honestly, no more than pre-Covid.

In short, prior to Covid, there are x persons not participating due childcare.

At and just after Covid, and until, say, this mid-summer, that number rose from x to x + y, where y is a non-zero, fairly significant proportion of x.

Now, the number is x + z, where z is probably miniscule in relation to x.

I think pointing to added childcare concerns *during* the previous school year was a valid, non-significant extra reason for participation declines.

Now, it isnt, nor should it be.

And, as noted, from this perspective the lack of labor is increasing -- not decreasing. I dont think that the amount due to childcare pre-Covid differs in any meaningful way
from that presently --- it shouldnt. In fact, more adult family members *should* be freed from that at the point in-person schooling once again became the norm.

If your thesis is that there are far more added now as compared to prior pre-Covid, you havent provided any logical rationale or reasoning for why there is *so* much more concern for childcare *now* as opposed to say October of 2019.

I mentioned already that there has been a decline in the number of childcare workers, so the supply of childcare providers has decreased.

Quote:Nearly 1.6 million moms of children under 17 are still missing from the labor force. They dropped out during the pandemic to care for children and have not been able to return to work as the school and day-care situation remains chaotic, especially for unvaccinated children under the age of 12. There are still covid outbreaks occurring at schools, and some child-care centers and after-school programs remain closed or they are accepting fewer children....

The numbers are staggering: The child-care services industry is still down 126,700 workers — more than a 10 percent decline from pre-pandemic levels, Labor Department data shows. While many industries complain they can’t find enough workers, the hiring situation is more dire in child-care than in restaurants right now.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/...kers-quit/

WHY are day care providers unable to hire back former workers or replacement workers despite increases in hourly pay. Seems kind of weird to blame a lack of day care workers on an inability of them to find day care. I have asked for an explanation of this several times, with none forthcoming.

Go back and read through the thread. We’ve repeatedly gone over some of the other issues impacting the labor market…