Licking County parents forced into stressful work-life balancing act during COVID era
NEWARK — The COVID impact on the workplace and home life has forced employers and employees with children into a high-stakes, high-wire balancing act with no safety net and no end in sight.
When schools and day care facilities are forced to close because of COVID and staffing shortages, working parents are left in a desperate situation with no good options. The daily struggle to do what's best for their children, their employer and their family finances have stressed some to the limit.
Kristin Culp, a single mother in Union Township, faced all those stresses on Friday when Carson Elementary School and My Place Daycare were both forced to close, and her 7-year-old daughter was in quarantine due to a close coronavirus contact in her class.
She works as a medical assistant and patient care technician at Interim Healthcare, usually starting her work day between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., helping out at places that are extremely short-staffed.
“I was going to work a day shift today and had to cancel my day shift and work a night shift and beg my brother to watch her so I can make a little bit of money," Culp said. “I’m very sleep-deprived whenever this happens. It turns my life upside down a little bit.”
The father of her daughter, a first-grader, has been in poor health for an extended period. So, Culp's daughter needs her. And, her employer needs her. And, she needs the job.
“It’s been devastating and difficult, so we really depend on the day care," Culp said. "My company is so understanding, with schedule changes. They are a wonderful company to work for. If I need to cancel, I can. Between them and the day care, I’m so thankful for the flexibility.”
My Place Day Care takes Culp's daughter to school and picks her up after school because Culp starts work well before school and works after school closes.
“They’ve been a life-saver for us," Culp said. "Not all day cares do that. I’m just so grateful for all the people there.”
Day care providers at crossroads of family, work, health
Shaun Linton, the My Place Childcare owner and administrator, said he sees up close the stress everyone endures in the COVID era.
“It’s a struggle for everybody across the board," Linton said. "The parents and families we see here, there are a lot of ups and downs. We have to close every once in a while. We’re short-staffed. It feels like we’re back to day one on all of this.
“And then the alternate care provider has COVID too. It’s just a constant struggle. People are running out of places to go. Unfortunately, people have to make the decision, I have a child with sniffles and a low-grade fever and I have to take my child somewhere or I’m going to lose my job.”
Ginger Dehus, owner-operator of Almost Home Day Care, said she would like to help out more families, but like most employers, she needs more workers.
“We’re at 50% capacity,” Dehus said. “We have lots of room and a waiting list of 60 kids, but we don’t have the staff. We need an overhaul in the child care system, and that started well before COVID.”
She said the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services pays each day care center per child, based on the number of hours there, but rates have increased minimally twice in 11 years.
“We are a vital role in every community,” Dehus said. “People think we’re just babysitters, but we help the world go ‘round. It’s a huge chain reaction when we have to shut the doors.”
Almost Home Day Care, open from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., takes children from 6 weeks old to age 13.
Dealing with the long work days, reduced staff and COVID has taken a toll on all businesses, especially when people are forced to call off work, Dehus said.
“It’s wearing,” Dehus said. “I’m sure the employers aren’t happy, just like when my employees don’t come in. And, the older I get, the harder it is.
“It’s not uncommon to have three cars with children before one of us pulls into the day care at 4:55. I know I can’t keep up like this year. It’s been nine months now really bad.”
Parents at breaking point financially, emotionally
Marc Miller, who has three children at My Place Child Care, said the closures of school and day care have cost him and his fiancé about three months of pay.
“Neither of us works from home,” Miller said. “One of us has to stay home and watch the kids while the other goes to work. Where am I supposed to get my income from?”
He said school was canceled at 6:30 a.m. recently as both were leaving for work.
“It’s been a lot recently,” Miller said. “It seems people are missing work left and right. Maybe employers are more understanding.
“We watch our nephew three times a week. My brother and his fiancé are both nurses. They’re strung out. Who do you call that early in the morning to watch your kids?”
Kassandra Norman, a working mother with hseven children, has all but her youngest in school. Her 3-year-old goes to My Place Daycare, and her 5-year old is at day care before school.
She was forced to call off work on Thursday and Friday because of school and day care closings. She said her boyfriend helps out, but they work at the same place, Ascena, in Etna Township.
“We’ve had a half-dozen quarantines, just with my household,” Norman said. “I switched to part-time because of this. I had nobody to pick my preschooler up. I’m trying to find a work-from-home job.”
Norman said Ascena was devastated by the virus in 2020 and is still recovering.
“We lost at least half of our workforce,” Norman said. “We lost a lot of people when the shutdown happened. We still don’t have what we had before. A lot of people had to quit, and some people found work-at-home jobs.”
Somehow, employment at all-time high
Despite companies’ struggles to find workers and employees’ difficulty in getting to work, somehow Licking County employment is at an all-time high.
Linton said people have to work, especially after the additional unemployment benefit expired.
“I think they’re making it happen,” Linton said. “A lot of extended family care that we got away from for a long time. At least they have a place to go while mom and dad are at work.”
The employment numbers in November 2019, before the pandemic, and November 2021, the most recent available, are almost the same, or improved.
In 2019, there were 91,300 in the Licking County labor force, with 88,100 employed and 3,200 unemployed for an unemployment rate of 3.5%.
In 2021, there were 91,000 in the labor force, 88,400 employed and 2,600 unemployed for a 2.8% unemployment rate.
Licking County Workforce Administrator Angela Carnahan said there’s no easy answer, but one possible explanation is the growth of the county.
“Local businesses, specifically manufacturing and warehousing, are experiencing growth,” Carnahan said. “We’ve also had several large employers with significant staffing levels move to the area in the last five years, adding to the demand.”
And, some may have shifted to part-time work, but are still counted among the employed. So, two people at 20 hours a week show up as two employees, but doing the work of one.
“I know some employers have created part-time work to attract non-traditional workers such as stay-home parents looking for work during school hours, retirees or evening shifts for high school students,” Carnahan said.
“But if someone wants full time employment, there are plenty of full-time opportunities. If anything, I think the part-time opportunities have attracted additional people into the workforce who otherwise would not be working at all.”
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking County Parents stressful work-life balancing act COVID era
