As 2022 started, it felt like more of the same for America’s working mothers: a third year of Covid 19-related illnesses, disruptions and quarantines that left them barely juggling the balance of running a household while holding down a job.
Then came a formula shortage that had parents scrambling to feed their kids, just as a bill that would have extended breastfeeding protections at work died in the Senate. Inflation at a four-decade high made everything from diapers to gas to babysitters more expensive. The fall brought more bouts of illness for kids and now shortages of the medicines used to treat them.
Despite Democrats listing it as a top priority, monthly tax credit payments for parents weren’t included in a funding bill Congress is likely to pass this week. And a looming rollback of pandemic aid is threatening the child care industry it helped keep afloat.
