I am writing as a 27-year resident of the Park City area and mother of two teenage boys. I help younger moms navigate personal finance challenges and help their families thrive through my business, Upward Personal Finance, and local organizations such as the Hive Family Collective and WIN (Women’s Inspired Network) Park City. I was recently notified of the movement in our city to help families with the ever-increasing challenge of daycare services in our community. Even though my days of needing daycare for my children are behind me, I know the intense challenges families face, especially mothers, when having to figure out care for their children so they can work, put food on the table, pay taxes, and do their very best to raise future good citizens. I’d like to express my thoughts about our daycare situation and the overall experience of women in Utah. 

Utah is a sad place for women to be professionals and mothers. It is consistently ranked dead last in our country for women’s equality. It is ranked as the worst state for women to work in. Frankly, it’s embarrassing. Here’s where we fail: Income disparity and wage gap; corporate executives disparity; share of minimum wage workers; entrepreneurial rate (small businesses); average number of work hours; job security; economic security; poverty rate; advanced degrees attained; math scores and financial literacy; healthcare affordability; and share of lawmakers and elected officials

The punchline? Utah was recently named “the best state in America” for 2023 by  U.S. News & World Report. How can U.S. News & World Report rank Utah best in the nation when we rank dead last for women’s equality? We should all be striving to improve. 

The message sent to all females, especially educated career women in our state, is “if you are a mom, you should stay home.” This message was delivered loud and clear to me when I moved here in 1996. There was then, and continues to this day, essentially zero support for women who want to have a career and be great moms. Many of my college-educated peers completely dropped out of the workforce to avoid the “mommy tax” of low wages and high daycare costs. Luckily for me, I made a large enough salary that I somehow made it work, and additionally, I was not a single mom. As Park City is not an affordable area, it requires most families to be dual-income to get by. Without a doubt, daycare was the most challenging part of being a mom for me. One year (over a decade ago) I paid $28,000 for daycare. 

Why don’t our elected officials hear from working moms more? WE’RE TOO BUSY TO SIT AROUND AND COMPLAIN, ATTEND MEETINGS, AND TRY TO CHANGE A CULTURE THAT DOES NOT WANT CHANGE. 

Again, as I work with women in my financial coaching business, I want to share some additional stats about women, moms, and money that are important considerations. 

The harsh truth: Almost half of women report financial stress is hurting their mental health; women have 39% higher lifetime health care costs; women make $.78  (even lower in Utah!) to every $1 a man makes. Less if you are a mom. Less for women of color. This averages to $590,000 lifetime reduced earnings. The wage gap is actually wider with more education! Two-thirds of student loan debt is carried by women; women spend three times as many hours on unpaid domestic work; we are behind men in retirement savings; we invest 40% less than men; women live longer than men and have a greater need for prolonged retirement savings; age 59.4 is the average age of widowhood in the U.S.; 70% of nursing home residents are women; women ask for raises just as frequently as men; we are rewarded a raise fewer times and with lower amounts; women are 5 times more likely to live paycheck to paycheck; and 60% of women report working more than one job to make ends meet (32% men).

With all of that, here is my ask of our local leaders — the two problems you have the power to solve as elected government officials and what I am asking you to really focus on for the women/children/families in Park City: 

1. Addressing the need for affordable daycare

2. Getting the work day to align with the school day

These are two mission-critical pieces to solve if we want our community to be a better place for moms/kids/families. We live in Park City because it is a forward-thinking and progressive town. We stand together as citizens. We know children are our future. We want a diverse and inclusive community. We want to help our citizens lead a healthy and productive life where we can all give back to improve the collective.

Park City is better than any other city in our state. We have the ability to lead and set the tone for progress. We are “out of the box” creative thinkers who aren’t afraid to try new things, learn, pivot, change and grow. Why can’t daycare be a profit center for our city? Why can’t we provide a decent wage and benefits for our childcare professional community? Why can’t we get the work day to align with the school day? Why can’t we develop private sector and government collaborations to solve problems?

You can. We can.

The post Guest editorial: Why can’t daycare be a profit center for our city? appeared first on Park Record.