Last July, Zabrina and Kerry Kluczynski, a dual-career couple, had an important decision to make about child care when Kerry’s mother, who had been the babysitter for their two children, 5 and 2, died.
“We called so many places that offered day care and we found it really, really expensive–and we don’t have the money right now,” Zabrina said.
So the couple decided to handle it themselves by staggering their hours and working different shifts.
At the time, Zabrina was employed in a retail store and had unpredictable hours. Kerry was in his current job in Lincolnshire, Ill., as a system technician at Motient Corp., a wireless data service based in Reston, Va., with 500 employees.
“We knew I would have to change jobs,” Zabrina said, “and when my husband saw a job posted at [Motient] for a customer service representative in Lincolnshire, I tried out for it, got it and started last August. Working at the same place makes things a lot easier.”
Kerry’s supervisor, George Ramirez, changed the technician’s hours to mesh with Zabrina’s.
And when Kerry’s hours changed again, Zabrina’s also were altered by her supervisor, Bruce Tenuta.
“This is one place that knows how to treat its employees,” Zabrina said.
Today, Kerry works from 4 p.m. to midnight five days a week with Thursday and Friday off. Zabrina works from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Kerry brings the children to Motient at 4 p.m. three days a week. Zabrina takes them home and is in charge of them evenings and weekends.
“We both enjoy our time with the kids and it’s working out well for them,” Zabrina said. “The only problem is my husband and I are always tired and we don’t see that much of each other.”
The Child Care Action Campaign, based in New York, reports that 24 percent of children under 5 whose mothers, like Zabrina, work outside the home, are cared for by their parents.
A major reason for this split-shift parenting is the high cost of day care, which averages $5,400 a year, according to Ruzheimer International.
“Without financial assistance, either public or private, most people can’t afford child care–and, unfortunately, in child care you get what you pay for,” said Richard Stolley, chairman of the Child Care Action Campaign.
“Parents who work different shifts to care for their children are heroic,” he said.
Though many businesses now offer on-site child care, vouchers and resource and referral services, Stolley, a senior editorial adviser at Time Inc., in New York, reports that “only 1 percent of the billions spent on child care in the U.S. is spent by businesses and foundations.”
That leaves it up to parents to do the best they can.
The Kluczynskis “deserve a pat on the back because they put such a high priority on raising their own children and are willing to make the personal sacrifices to do so–and today that’s rare,” said David Hirsch, senior vice president of Salomon Smith Barney Inc. in Chicago and founder and president of Illinois Fatherhood Initiative, a non-profit organization.
“And the employer deserves credit, too, for allowing them to work hours that coincide with family-related commitments.”
Hirsch, who is a CPA and has an MBA, is married to Peggy Hirsch, who has the same credentials. Though the couple can afford child care, Peggy is the primary caregiver for their five children ranging from 4 to 11 and has put her career aspirations on hold “because of the priority we place on our kids,” he said.
Being a father is Hirsch’s most important commitment in life and it led to his founding of the Fatherhood Initiative in 1997. Still, he can’t help but call on his investment expertise to create an appropriate metaphor for parents’ responsibility for their offspring.
“Taking care of your children is so rewarding personally,” Hirsch said, “and I have to believe it pays dividends in the long-term.”
