Child care and the "opening" of the economy

Farhad Manjoo writes that "the economy will not really 'open up,' and life will not really return to normal, as long as parents don’t have any place to send our children during the day." But this also reveals that under the "old normal", the economy was never "open", especially not for those doing unpaid care work (which is primarily done by women). American conservatives complain that liberals and progressives want to push through policies, such as universal child care, that have nothing to do with the pandemic – but the pandemic makes clear that the norms of child care – and other norms – need thorough revision, and not only in the United States. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 22 April)