I’m working on a story about how child care in Cook County is often unattainable for lower- and middle-class families in Cook County. I know I’m supposed to observe the numbers from the proverbial journalistic arm’s length, but the more I read, the more my arm wants to wave a distress flag.
The statistics come from a study by Illinois Action for Children, and boy, are they telling. The North/Northwest side of Chicago, where I live, is the worst in the region with only one center child-care slot for every 63 infants.
Yes, you heard that right.
I started looking for childcare in May 2006, five months before my daughter, Jane, was born. Only a few accredited daycare centers in my area accepted infants, and they had waiting lists of 18 months to two years.
I guess that’s great for elephants, who I hear have an average gestation period of about 600 days.