Public Project
For The Wall Street Journal: Working Parents Are Having a Rough Summer. Some Co-Workers Don’t Want to Hear About It.
Kids are out of school. Working parents are out of ideas. Their co-workers are out of patience.
The summer from hell is here for moms and dads who are rediscovering the challenge of finding care for their children when class isn’t in session. Now that a lot of working parents are back in offices, at least part time, they’re once again shelling out for seasonal activities. And they’re paying much more than they used to—sometimes triple—if they can find options at all.
Eli and Shai Albrecht say extensive care for their three young children is the key to juggling two demanding careers when school is out. Mr. Albrecht, 34, is a lawyer who counsels private-equity firms on mergers and acquisitions; Ms. Albrecht, 30, is building a personal-training business.
The kids’ schedules are so hectic, requiring up to five hours of driving each day, that the Maryland couple needs extra help—preferably from someone who won’t get into an accident while piloting the family’s Tesla, as a previous nanny did.
“Dante’s ninth level of hell is looking for a nanny,” says Mr. Albrecht. Even when a nanny is hired, you can find yourself in a bidding war as others compete to lure them away, he adds, or they just stop coming because the schedule doesn’t work for them.
Photo Editor: Daisy Korpics
Reporter: Callum Borchers
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