The Interdependence of Family, State, and Market: Childcare in the Shifting Landscape of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. federal and
state governments enacted various supports for childcare, including expanded funding and flexibility for the childcare market, expanded paid leave, more generous and inclusive unemployment insurance, loans available to childcare providers, and tax rebates. In this Article, we trace the distributional consequences of these interventions, focusing on one community in the Boston metropolitan area. We examine whether these interventions support access to childcare through the state, market, and family, in particular considering the make-up of the community’s population, which is largely immigrant and of low socio-economic status. Based on observations about how the COVID-era interventions have shifted patterns of childcare access, we offer reflections on welfare capitalism as an analytical framework when considering the distribution of support for care in a Latinx immigrant community. We conclude with suggested interventions to support the women of color whose undercompensated labor underlies systems of care.