I was wondering if there is any sort of larger mother's movement advocating better quality and/or subsidized childcare, or childcare at the workplace.  I am a new mom who has been appalled at the poor quality and high cost of childcare, and general lack of understanding among employers about the situation. I also just finished my PhD in Economics and am now embarking on research on the economics of childcare, but I would also like to become an activist because I feel so strongly about this issue.  If you know of any activist groups that are growing in numbers or influence, I would very much appreciate your advice.  Best wishes to you, and thanks for all that you do!  

In my book Opting In:  Having a Child Without Losing Yourself, I don't exactly "tackle" the child care crisis, but one of the things that I grapple with is how the best child care centers have proved to be those that have economic diversity. Public subsidized childcare is often terrible and thus we shouldn't simply encouraging that the government implement more of that, but rather try to figure out what does work and replicate that. The military, for instance, is proven to have one of the most effective systems and that's been attributed mostly to the sliding scale range.

I would recommend researching what child care already exists in your area and then see about how to meld the public and private — for instance, get a few spots at a private center to be subsidized public. These things are possible it often just takes someone to demystify the process. There are also groups like Mothers Center, the work of Ann Crittenden and Ruth Rosen and Moms Rising, The Children's Defense Fund...and others who are trying to tackle this problem more systematically. I also recommend connecting with them and see what they recommend.

— Amy