COVID: Rush To Find Childcare As Bay Area Parents Return To Work
LIVERMORE (KPIX) -- With many parents headed back to the office, there is rush for childcare and the demand is putting pressure on families and daycare facilities.
At Susie's Daycare Academy in Livermore is at capacity. Owner Susie Holland says she gets calls two or three times a week from parents just asking if she has openings. There is a waiting list and Holland says it's been like this for months.
"I just don't know ever when something is going to open up," said Holland.
Holland has run her home daycare in Livermore for 27 years. She is well aware the return to the office has left many parents in limbo.
"When things went back to normal the doors just opened right up as I knew they would and I've been full since last September once again," said Holland.
Belinda Trizuto is a working parent and has a 7-month-old baby named Zoey.
"We were panicked we didn't really know what we were going to do," said Trizuto, a first time mom.
Trizuto heads back to the office next week.
"I called two different places and I thought they were kidding when they said you have to wait till 2023 and I was like 'oh I guess I should've called two years ago,'" said Trizuto.
Miranda Browning decided the only way to juggle being a working mom is to actually work at her daughters daycare. Holland is her boss.
"A couple of my friends are actually looking for a spot and they always come to me and ask me if Susan is finally open and I always tell them... but yeah it's really hard for parents," said Browning.
We asked Browning if she ever thought about staying at home.
"Yes, my husband and I did a cost analysis. I didn't know how much daycare was prior to getting pregnant I was kind of naive," said Browning. "I didn't take into consideration the commute to San Francisco and working ten hours a day."
The work/ parent balance just got a whole lot trickier and to some degree working from home was a godsend.
"I also think there was a little bit of a thing where people were working from home and they realized that they could keep their child home and save on daycare costs," said Holland. "That has turned around and caused a problem but now they don't have a place to put their children."