It is no secret that the recent economic problems have affected more than just working adults. Their families have also needed to make sacrifices. Some parents are unable to send their young children to daycare because they cannot afford it.
It becomes a vicious cycle when parents cannot look for jobs because they do not have the money to pay daycare providers to watch their children. Maria Balthazar and her husband, Jean Jaboin, face that problem.
Balthazar is a Certified Nursing Assistant and works three 12-hour shifts per week, along with an extra eight hours every two weeks to qualify as a full-time worker. Jaboin is a temporary worker, getting jobs whenever he can.
“I really need to work on Mondays and Tuesdays when Maria is home with the children. But sometimes, I don’t find work and the days are wasted,” said Jaboin.
On the occasion when Jaboin is able to get work for an entire week, the children are placed in daycare. They go to First Step Daycare in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The director, Donna Smith, has kept her enrollment flexible to offset rising costs of providing her service.
“I have 22 kids on my register. Seventeen of them come every day, while the other five come off and on. I charge a weekly fee of $130 per child. There is no daily rate, so the part-time students come only if their parents can commit to an entire week,” said Smith.
Balthazar and Jaboin are very grateful to Smith who reserves space for their two sons and charges them $200 for the week.