A working mom of four went viral on Twitter when she shared her new email signature for the summertime. She shared that a “snippy email” she received inspired the new signature, reported Today. Her current email signature highlights the struggles of working parents during summer break, especially in the US where child care is unaffordable and unattainable for most working parents and families. Meg St-Esprit is a freelance journalist and working mom of four and her honest statement struck a chord with working parents on Twitter, receiving over 100,000 views.
Her post and story highlight the urgent need for affordable and subsidized child care in the US. It is, as she pointed out in her post, one of the few developed nations without universal child care.
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A curt email inspired this working mom of four to create her new email signature.
Meg St-Esprit shared her email signature on Twitter captioned, “Some folks who saw my email signature commented on it, so I wanted to share. The US is the only developed nation w/o subsidized childcare. Adding it would increase our GDP over 1 trillion dollars. Not a handout — it’s a smart decision when facing a recession and labor shortages.”
Her new email signature reads, "Please note I may be slower to respond to email in the months of June, July and August due to the United States' inability to provide affordable childcare for working mothers," per Today. St-Esprit also shared the moment that made her decide to write the new email signature. Someone was unhappy that she didn’t respond to an email within 24 hours.
"In the moment, I was like: 'This is how it's going to be — people are going to need to know that this is how it's going to be for the next couple months.' I'm still good at my job. I'm still a professional. I'm also a mom of four kids and this is reality in America,” she said.
Working over the summer without any child care takes some finagling.
After interviewing babysitters and pricing camps, St-Esprit knew it wasn't possible to pay for all four of her kids to be kept busy for the summer. She told Today, "Everyone wants to be able to know that if you're at the pool with your kids and you're planning to work until 11 p.m. that night to catch up — which is what I do — that you don't have to respond to that email right away."
She also said that she will be getting only four to five hours of sleep a night over the next couple of months because she has to work until midnight. She says she’s always worked late into the night, and sometimes turns to her mom or babysitters to look after her kids for a few hours.
St-Esprit shared that the kids' summer break is a difficult time for her. "I get anxiety leading up to summer. I wish I was excited about it. I love my kids. But I know I'm going to have to be on on,” she said, reported Today.
The US is losing revenue and workers due to unaffordable child care.
An updated study conducted by ReadyNation found that the crisis of infant-toddler child care in the US costs $122 billion in lost revenue and productivity every year, reported Strong Nation. A report compiled by the US Labor Department found annual child care prices ranging from $5,357 for school-aged home-based care in smaller counties to more than $17,000 for infant care in larger counties. This data was compiled across 47 states and 2,360 counties, reported CBS.
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Fellow working parents and Twitter users commented in agreement.
Twitter users responded with support to the working mom of four’s tweet and new email signature, and pointed out that women shouldn't solely bear the brunt of child care, sharing similar stories of their own.
“Once I became a member of management in law firms I included things like that in auto responders," on person commented. "Overwhelmingly people appreciated it, were inspired by it, told me they learned. Even had clients applaud. But there are always a small few with loud voices who would take issue.”
“In solidarity I’d add that childcare isn’t just for mothers," one comment read. "Framing it as a woman’s issue isn’t fair or factual. I’m so tired of hearing women say our salary barely covers childcare. Do we justify men’s return to work this way? Why is the burden of childcare ours alone?”
Another wrote: “I love this move. Although I might argue it’s not our country’s 'inability' to provide affordable child care. As you aptly point out, we’re the only developed nation without it. It’s a choice.”
“Oh for sure!" another user chimed in. "Paid parental leave improves the work performance of dads, too. But typically (statistically) mothers bear the brunt of our broken childcare system which is shown in the earning and achievement gap between men and women in the US.”
