Once More with Feeling: Remote Work Is Not a Substitute for Childcare

I have been a remote worker on and off (mostly on) for 26 years. I just called a call center for my state’s insurance marketplace. Waited 20 minutes, only for rep to answer with a screaming child in the background so I could barely hear her, then dump me BACK OUT INTO THE QUEUE with a now FIFTY-minute wait.

I get that the U.S. is a third-world country. I get that daycare is expensive. I get being a single mother, as I have been for 18 of those 26 years. But this isn’t the solution. You cannot get paid to watch your children at home. You cannot actually do a job while trying to watch your young children. You cannot abdicate your job responsibilities to your coworkers so you can take care of your children when you are supposed to be working. You cannot homeschool your children while you are supposed to be working.

Rant over, but I basically wanted this to link back to every dang time someone posts about having children at home so “can you please recommend/help me find a remote job?”

Plus, you know, I’ve now spent my own 40-minute lunch period while remote working sitting pointlessly on my phone because of this. 😡