Chips Act Child Care Is Better Than Nothing: Sarah G. Carmichael

When I was pregnant, I started signing up for daycare waiting lists at 14 weeks, before I had even told most people I was expecting. It was weird to fill out an application for a child who doesn’t yet have a name. (I wrote “player to be named” on the forms.) Yet our daughter wasn’t offered a full-time spot until she was more than a year old, and by then I’d been back at work for 10 months, making do with a mix of part-time care, babysitters, grandparent help and vacation time.

My experience is hardly unique. A full-time day care spot can take months or ...