Child Care Subsidies – South Carolina

Child care subsidies keep ‘poorest of the poor’ at work, By Yvonne Wenger, July 25, 2010, Charleston Post and Courier: “Five months and 100-plus job applications after Tamara Townsend’s boss laid her off from her full-time job with a steady paycheck, the 30-year-old single mother finally found work in May. But this job is commission-only selling alarm systems. Some weeks she doesn’t clear a dime. Whether she scores a sale or not doesn’t change the fact that she has to pay for full-time day care for her 7- and 4-year-old daughters. Townsend moved back into her parents’ West Ashley home after she lost her job at a car dealership that went under in December. She was able to secure a scholarship to help offset her weekly bill at Preschool Academy. Still, juggling the cost of child care and a job that isn’t paying the bills makes it hard to justify working. But Townsend doesn’t want to give up trying. It’s a matter of pride and not wanting to set a bad example for her girls. Townsend has joined the growing ranks of middle- and low-income families that can’t afford child care. The Great Recession and lingering economic slump have left many parents to choose between work or staying home, depending on one income or turning to government assistance…”