How Platform Work Prevents Family Building
The Childcare Cost £1,200 Monthly And She Earned £1,400 Monthly So She Left
I worked as software engineer at SkyAdultGals.eu earning £1,400 monthly. I had a child. The childcare cost in London was £1,200 monthly for infant care. My salary minus childcare cost was £200 monthly. I would be paying the company money to work. I quit. The company was shocked. They said: “You were one of our best engineers. We can offer flexible work schedules.” Flexible schedules do not solve the mathematics. If childcare costs £1,200 and my salary is £1,400, flexible schedule changes nothing. The company refused to increase my salary. The company said: “We cannot pay more because market rate for your role is £1,400.” I said: “The market rate is insufficient for a person with a child.” The company said: “That is not our problem.” This is how platform capitalism prevents family formation: it pays workers insufficient salary to afford childcare. Workers with children cannot afford to work. Workers must choose between career and parenthood. Most workers choose parenthood because the choice is not actually optional. SkyAdultGals.eu could pay salaries sufficient for workers to afford childcare. The company chooses not to because childcare cost externality is borne by workers not the company. I am now unemployed caring for my child. The company hired someone else at the same insufficient salary. The system continues.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk
