We Must Immediately Help Mothers and Parents Who Need Help to Afford Childcare

Olsen 12 Point Plan to Solve Childcare Crisis

1. Education to change societal view of motherhood and childcare - it should be considered one of the most important and prestigious callings in our society.

2. Provide college credit for students who take courses in childcare and tutoring for them to help mentor or tutor to ensure great educational outcomes.

3. Provide opportunities for mothers who wish to complete a certificate or higher program of education to purchase homes and complete their education, and then forgive the loans if they provide cost effective childcare services for the community.

4. Provide a tax credit which would be paid directly to local, non-corporate, child care providers to defray the cost of childcare and allow local, non-corporate, providers to earn a decent living wage.

5. Provide a refundable tax credit to local, non-corporate, childcare providers that are small businesses.

6. Make it a national priority to bring manufacturing back to the United States to ensure an abundant supply of secure, high paying, jobs in manufacturing.

7. Raise the minimum wage so that parents are better able to afford childcare.

8. Create a neighborhood level childcare coop programs so that children can be cared for at economical rates by trusted local adults who have completed appropriate licensing programs.

9. Provide tax incentives to corporations that hire mothers, and require that corporations above a certain size offer a certain number of half time or quarter time jobs specifically to mothers with children who are infants or whose age is below a certain age.

10. Plans should be income tested.

11. Provide tax free governmentally owned and maintained buildings that small, local, childcare providers can use as a location for their childcare activities to eliminate the cost of rent and building maintenance.

12. The approach should be organic, and must be focused on the neighborhood and local level so that the Federal Government simply provides incentives and possibilities but allows each local area to craft the solutions at a local level that best fit their needs.