Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I have to think that this isn’t caused by capitalism in the way that seems obvious, that is, private equity stealing all of the profits. The economics of these things just doesn’t pencil out.
For instance, somebody informed me on another post that the staffing for infant care is 4 babies per caregiver. In order to give the daycare employees a good wage, the parents have to pay at least 1/4 of one persons annual pay. So it’s already unaffordable. Now subtract the costs of the facility, food, insurance, training, licensure, admin staff, and more, and the business model dictates that the daycare employees have to make shit wages.
If we’re going to subsidize it, so that daycare workers make at least median income, why not subsidize parental leave instead? It’d be at least as cost-effective, and better for families.
But what if we could go back to one income being enough to support a family? Or re-normalized multi-generational households, and neighborhoods with a strong social fabric. What if what capitalism stole from us is ourselves? Instead of working together to raise kids and look after the elderly, it convinced us to hate and fear our neighbors, so that everybody would buy a huge house/fortress, cram it full of stuff that we barely use, and go everywhere in an individual, four-wheeled isolation chamber?
But what if we could go back to one income being enough to support a family?
The supply and demand of the labour economy don’t support that. If there’s twice as much labour in the workforce, companies want to treat it like it’s worth half as much.
Instead, we should reduce the full work week to 20 hours and make minimum wage the same amount per week. That way, we’re actually reducing the amount of working hours that are offered to employers from the supply end. They’ll need forced to reduce corporate waste and employ more people. And we’ll all have a four day weekend to do the chores and look after the kids!
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I have to think that this isn’t caused by capitalism in the way that seems obvious, that is, private equity stealing all of the profits. The economics of these things just doesn’t pencil out.
For instance, somebody informed me on another post that the staffing for infant care is 4 babies per caregiver. In order to give the daycare employees a good wage, the parents have to pay at least 1/4 of one persons annual pay. So it’s already unaffordable. Now subtract the costs of the facility, food, insurance, training, licensure, admin staff, and more, and the business model dictates that the daycare employees have to make shit wages.
If we’re going to subsidize it, so that daycare workers make at least median income, why not subsidize parental leave instead? It’d be at least as cost-effective, and better for families.
But what if we could go back to one income being enough to support a family? Or re-normalized multi-generational households, and neighborhoods with a strong social fabric. What if what capitalism stole from us is ourselves? Instead of working together to raise kids and look after the elderly, it convinced us to hate and fear our neighbors, so that everybody would buy a huge house/fortress, cram it full of stuff that we barely use, and go everywhere in an individual, four-wheeled isolation chamber?
No need for profits, regardless of ownership model, without capitalism. Duh.
Heck, I’m just judging capitalism by its own standards, and pointing out how it can’t even meet those.
The supply and demand of the labour economy don’t support that. If there’s twice as much labour in the workforce, companies want to treat it like it’s worth half as much.
Instead, we should reduce the full work week to 20 hours and make minimum wage the same amount per week. That way, we’re actually reducing the amount of working hours that are offered to employers from the supply end. They’ll need forced to reduce corporate waste and employ more people. And we’ll all have a four day weekend to do the chores and look after the kids!