K-12 Dive | Naaz Modan “Even prior to the pandemic, 16%, or 11.6 million, of children under 18 belonged to families living in poverty, according to national data from 2019. While that’s a decrease from 2010, when that percentage was at 21%, approximately 74.7 million people, largely in low-wage jobs, have lost work since the start of the…
What Parents Need to Know About Vaccinating Young Children Against COVID-19
PBS NewsHour | William Brangham, Karina Cuevas, & Claire Mufson “It has been a blessing in this pandemic that our children have been largely spared the worst effects of COVID-19. But not all children have been, sadly…. While the statistics of how many children wind up having severe illness may be low, that’s not really…
Federal Stimulus Payments Kept More Than 2 Million Latino and Black Children Out of Poverty During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020
ChildTrends | Dana Thomson, Lina Guzman, Renee Ryberg “Latino children represented the largest racial/ethnic group of children kept out of poverty by the additional income support from the stimulus payments. The latest Census figures show that 1.3 million Latino and 756,000 Black children were kept out of poverty by these federal relief efforts.” A new report from…
Bringing a Trauma-Informed Lens to Early Childhood Education
Edutopia | Roisleen Todd “By consistently empowering students to make decisions about their own actions and learning environments, we are showing them that their voice and identity matter and that they have the power to influence their environment.” With students returning to the classroom this school year, educators have an opportunity to empower students by…
Another Case for Paid Family Leave: Newborns’ Brain Development
The 19th | Jennifer Gerson “Not only did paid family leave reduce income inequality in the state, but mothers of color also reported being able to have more time at home with their infants and reported feeling more connected with their babies as a result of having access to paid leave.” Regarding the importance of…
Why the Conversation on Early Childhood Development Needs to Start Before Birth
Center for Health Journalism | Giles Bruce “What this research is starting to tell us is that if we wait to think about intervening on child development after birth, we miss the fact that all this is beginning before birth.” Research has shown that the first few years of a child’s life are critical for…
Desperate for Teachers and Staff, Some Rural Colorado Schools are Offering Their Workers Child Care
The Colorado Sun | Shannon Najmabadi & Erica Breunlin “Certainly for our younger teachers who have younger children, child care is an important resource and unfortunately, the supply doesn’t meet the demand.” With housing costs drastically increasing and few child care options, rural families barely have enough to afford child care. It also drives child…
First-Graders in the Reading Red Zone: How One Colorado School is Tackling Pandemic Gaps
Chalkbeat Colorado | Ann Schimke “The pandemic torpedoed many of the school’s recent literacy gains and threw an especially disruptive wrench into the education of Remington’s first-graders, whose pre-K year was cut short and whose kindergarten year was marked by flip-flops between online and in-person learning.” Remington Elementary in Colorado Springs has committed its efforts…
‘Trying to Job Hunt Just Felt Almost Comical’: 3 Moms on Balancing Job Search and Child Care Amid the Pandemic
CNBC | Courtney Connley “I remember having an interview in my parents’ basement, trying to close the door and my kid is yelling to come in. At that moment, I was like ‘I don’t have a choice right now.’ The reality was that the other components of my life outweighed [a full-time job].” Three mothers…
American Motherhood vs. The American Work Ethic
Vox | Rani Molla “If we want women to come back to the labor force, then we’re going to have to make it so that they can afford [child care] to do so.” Women across many industries left the workforce due to childcare responsibilities. Many of the mothers that made the transition to working from…
