Preschooler Parents Face the Toughest Choice as Offices Reopen
Families must weigh infection risks against job demands. Meanwhile, the child-care industry sees higher costs and sinking revenue.
A worker cleans playground equipment at a daycare center in Tacoma, Washington, on May 27.
Photographer: Ted S. Warren/AP Photo
Back in March, Rita Hamad decided to pull her three-year-old daughter out of a Bay Area preschool just as California started shutting down.
Hamad, 38, a social epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and her husband, another faculty member, juggled work and child care while stuck inside—like so many other American parents. “Thankfully, we can both work from home and our work hours are flexible,” Hamad said. “But that meant we were spending a lot of time in the evenings and on weekends working to make up for those lost hours.”