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Parents in Los Angeles don’t have to vote in person on Tuesday over child care costs, especially since the future of child care funding is at stake.
Olympic track and field star Allyson Felix is partnering with national and local nonprofits, including the Chamber of Mothers’ Vote Like a Mother project, to provide free child care to parents on Election Day. There is.
In Los Angeles, Brera, which operates three child care centers, is offering a full day of free child care to help parents get to the polls. Additionally, Bumo, an online marketplace with hundreds of affiliated child care facilities across Southern California, is donating $10,000 to child care services that parents can access using the code “VOTE” at checkout.
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Election Day child care options can be found through Politisit, a national nonprofit organization that has been providing free child care to voters since 2020 and has drop-in sites across the country. In 2022, the group provided more than 1,000 hours of free child care to families.
Free childcare options can also be accessed through the website electiondaychildcare.com.
“It’s not easy competing with young children in long, crowded lines,” said Emily Teixeira, executive director of Politicit. “In some areas, polling places may be difficult to reach or require queuing along busy streets, making them less accessible for working families who must decide whether to vote. There are places where I can either take my kids away from the babysitter or go vote.”
Bumo has primarily served families in California, but expanded to nearly 10 states in time for Election Day. The online marketplace said childcare centers are more than keen to participate in the initiative.
“That’s what people really care about,” said Bumo CEO and co-founder Joanne Nguyen. “Not only do we enable and empower people to vote, but we also empower parents to vote.”
To join one of Brella’s three locations, parents must fill out a Google Form to indicate interest and work with someone on their team to fill out a registration form. Co-founder and co-CEO Melanie Wolf said the process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours.
“Families are just grateful for the opportunity to receive free child care on this day,” she said. “I think this is seen as a very positive initiative for the community in a really divisive time.
The centers can house 120 children, Wolff said.
“I think we have a real moment and a real opportunity right now,” said Erin Ellenberg, CEO of Chamber of Mothers. “Women’s rights have never been more front and center, and I think there’s a real opportunity to think about what brings us together.”
Child care issues have been widely highlighted in presidential campaigns, with Kamala Harris promoting a new care economy for working families and former President Trump touting his past accomplishments. Harris is proposing a childcare plan that would allow working families to spend no more than 7% of their income on childcare costs.
President Trump has not provided details on improving the child care system, and the Republican Party’s campaign platform does not mention the issue. Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s operating strategy, would eliminate the Head Start program, which serves more than 800,000 low-income children nationwide.
Neither Politicit nor the Mothers’ Chamber provides guidance on who mothers should vote for.
“You should never have to choose between your career, your passion, and your motherhood,” Felix said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with the Mothers’ Chamber to tell mothers that they don’t have to choose between voting and being a mother this election. This election they can do both. I can do it.
This article is part of The Times’ Early Childhood Education Initiative, which focuses on the learning and development of California’s children from birth to age 5. To learn more about this initiative and its philanthropic funders, visit latimes.com/earlyed.
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