For many service workers and restaurant employees, access to reliable and affordable childcare continues to be a major struggle within the industry. It’s no secret that the United States has a childcare crisis that’s only worsened in recent years. As of 2021, roughly half of Americans live in so-called “child care deserts,” areas where there’s only one daycare spot for every three kids, according to the Department of the Treasury. An astounding 74% of mothers and 66% of fathers have been forced to leave work early, arrive to work late or skip it entirely due to “last-minute childcare disruptions,” per the Independent Restaurant Coalition. To make matters worse, childcare workers make an average of $30,370 a year, placing them in the bottom 2% of occupations.
Restaurant workers face a unique set of challenges when it comes to securing childcare. Unlike a standard 9-to-5 job, which now offers some flexibility with remote working, restaurant shifts are exclusively in-person and often early in the morning or late at night — times when childcare facilities are often unavailable. A disproportionate number of restaurant employees are also single mothers. Nearly 3.5 million parents work in the food industry and more than one million of those employees are single mothers, a 2016 report by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) found. Forty percent of the one million single mothers live in poverty, the report added.
