Hello and welcome to The Moving Curve. I’m Rukmini, a data journalist based in Chennai. Every night on this mini-cast, I consider one question around the novel coronavirus epidemic in India. Tonight I’m considering this one — can we take decisions about children and parents separately?
Yesterday, the government in Beijing announced that schools will reopen on June 8. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1188292.shtml
When UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented his plan for reopening the UK to their Parliament on Monday, the first question from the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, was around what are working parents whose kids aren’t yet able to return to school or childcare supposed to do. Here’s Boris Johnson’s response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvTZhe9ZXWM
If there’s anything that weeks of images of migrants walking home has shown us, it is that the working class of this country fight harder than anyone else to give their children a decent life and will literally carry them on their own shoulders over thousands of kilometres to safety. When they are able to re-enter the labour force, it should be with someone having at least considered who will watch their children while they are at work.
Thank you for listening. This episode was edited by Anand Krishnamoorthi. Tomorrow — a new question.
