Julie Cadwallader Staub is curious about the families who are on waiting lists for child care. “What decisions are they forced to make? How are they managing?”

To answer Julie’s question, we visit with four families in wait list limbo, and learn about the tradeoffs they’re making.

To see photos of the families we featured today, head to our website.

This episode was a true team effort, with reporting, producing and mixing by all of us – Mae Nagusky, Josh Crane, Myra Flynn, and Angela Evancie. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks to Jan Buonanno, Rob Gurwitt, Peter Engisch, Maria Aguirre, and all the folks who replied to our callout for this episode, to share your own stories about child care waitlists. We are rooting for you! And our show gets lots of help behind the scenes, so a special shoutout to Bryan Holland for starting to get our episodes up on YouTube.

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Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public, and a proud member of the NPR Network.