On March 7, 2025, our Parent Voices San Francisco Chapter stood in solidarity with Child Care Providers United. We uplifted the demands of families and child care providers who face crises every single day that child care is not funded and expanded.
At the rally, Parent Leader Salem spoke. Our voices as parents, our stories, and our energy are what build PARENT POWER!
When California gives us pennies, we make businesses!
When you give us scraps, we make meals!
Enough is enough!
Invest into the pockets of women who keep this nation working!
Parent Leader Selam’s 2025 International Women’s Day Speech
My name is Selam. I have two children. I am a member of Parent Voices, and I thank you for allowing me to speak today. On International Women’s Day I am here in solidarity with the child care workers of Child Care Providers United speaking as a mother, a home health worker, and a caregiver. Mothers and care workers deserve dignity and the ability to earn a living that helps all our children, seniors, and people with disabilities thrive.
I have been a Certified Nursing Assistant for years. I love my job, and I am really good at it. Right now, I work for good clients and go to their house. I ensure they can remain in the comfort of their own home and not in an institution.
The challenge is that I am on call, and work the evening shift. It is very difficult to find child care that is available in the evening. For the providers who are available, they are unable to accept subsidy payments because the rates are too low. I’ve had to use my sick and vacation time when I couldn’t secure child care or pay for it. Sometimes I can depend on a family member but she is not always available. It is very stressful making calls every night scrambling to find someone to watch my child.
If my child care subsidy could guarantee that my child care provider would be paid and could depend on that income, I would have peace of mind, my children would have consistency, and my employer could always depend on me to be reliable and focused. I could work more often and have more income to give my children the things they need.
Imagine being a caregiver and not being able to find care. Most caregivers are women of color and immigrants, but we are paid too low to be able to care for our own families.
We need to increase the reimbursement rate of all providers, and pay higher rates to those who do evening and weekend care to meet the needs of families who work in the 24/7 economy.
On this International Women’s Day we want our flowers, but we deserve justice and dignity even more.
We believe it’s time to show the women of California the respect that we’ve earned. We call on Governor Newsom and the Legislators to work with CCPU and fund the true cost of care and the subsidized spaces that were promised in this year’s state budget.
