Before you cast your vote, find out where your Kansas candidates stand on child care | Opinion

We listened to all the advice, and tried most of it. We slept when the baby slept. We kept a routine and started a college fund.

No one told us that seven years and another kid later, we’d have already paid for two four-year degrees — in day care fees.

We planned for additional expenses. We had family members help out to avoid full-time day care as long as possible. I even managed to juggle child care and remote work for the first 18 months with our second child.

By the end of this year, we’ll have paid almost $100,000 for child care. This exorbitant expense is compounded by the lack of paid family leave, which resulted in a total of 18 weeks of lost income to recover from birthing, and to care for both my children as newborns.

It’s true, we didn’t choose the cheapest child care option, but as anyone who has recently shopped around for day care knows, it’s hard enough to find a spot with an opening. We made the best decisions we could with what was available.

Though it’s been hard on my family, we are privileged because we will eventually be able to catch up on finances. Those who cannot afford child care often sacrifice half their income, and greatly reduce their future income potential, to start and raise a family.

A thriving working class is essential to a thriving economy, and without affordable child care, our working class is struggling. The only way a system this broken can be reformed is for our state and federal legislators to stop pursuing their culture wars and tax cuts for the rich, and focus on helping our working families.

If we can’t trust them to do that, we’ve got time to trade up. Before you cast your ballot, find out where your candidates stand on this issue, arguably the most important economic policy of the election. Working families are carrying the economy on our shoulders, but our backs are starting to give out.