Who Will Stay Home When the Kids Get Sick?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I received an email from MomsRising.org this morning that asks a good question – if the kids get sick, who’s going to stay home?

I struggled with this issue a lot as a single mom. My solution was to do my best to make sure we didn’t get sick. I think it’s just as irresponsilbe to go out sick and spread your germs around as it is to call in sick. Maybe more so. But, if your job depends on you being there, or you don’t get paid for sick days – it’s a tough choice, isn’t it? The MomsRising email has to do with ensuring that all people have sick days to use, and you can read it below.

The Swine Flu has the media bustling this year. It may explode, it may not. Your best offense is a good defense. Make sure you and your family are getting plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and getting enough sleep. Strengthen your immune system with a good multi vitamin, extra vitamin C, and a zinc supplement.

If you really want to have a chance at surviving this flu season, get rid of the packaged and fast foods, and pop. Start loading up on nutrient rich foods to fortify your body. Don’t wait – Do It Now!

You can find all the info you need to feed your body right here >>>

You might find some surprising side benefits – like the kids will do better in school, you’ll all have more energy, and you’ll lose weight.

Here is the email from MomsRising –

——————————————————-

Dear Carole,

CNN had some shocking advice this month:  Make hand sanitizer and extra soap part of your back to school shopping list–and prepare for a potentially bumpy ride in September, October, and November. [1]  Really??

This advice comes on the heels of predictions that the H1N1 (Swine flu) virus could return with wider distribution in the fall, and kids are especially at risk.  And, while the extra school supplies are good advice, we all know that simply arming kids with Purell isn’t enough to solve the problem that millions of parents face when it comes to the flu:

Who will stay home with the kids when they’re sick?

Today, the vast majority of all household have two parents in the labor force, yet nearly half of all private-sector working people aren’t allowed to earn a single paid sick day for themselves or to care for their children. With more and more people living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, many simply can’t afford to lose a day’s pay, or even their jobs, when they have to stay home sick or to care for sick kids.

Sign the petition today!  The United States needs to allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and to protect our public health:

http://momsrisingaction.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1924

*Forward this email to your friends!  With 50,000 signatures we can pressure our leaders in the Administration and Congress to help solve this problem by allowing people to earn paid sick days as has been done in the majority of other industrialized nations, and also help stop the spread of the flu in our country while they’re at it.

Paid Sick Days?  Yes!
The current focus on preventing the spread of the H1N1 flu virus shines a bright light on why it’s so important that sick people be allowed to stay at home:  It helps stop the spread of disease.  After all, without paid sick days, there is strong economic pressure for people to go to work even while they, or their kids, are sick.  This means not only that they can’t care for themselves or their family, it also means that they may transmit the virus to co-workers, customers, schoolmates, or other members of the public.

This problem is magnified for low income families.  Dr. Anita Barry of the Boston Public Health Commission explains what happened in Boston earlier this year:

“For some parents in lower-wage jobs, if they don’t show up at work, they don’t get paid, and people may already be on the economic margins,” Barry says. “So parents were desperate to get some of these children back in school. As a result, there were many sick, contagious kids in Boston classrooms this spring.”[2]

If we’re going to stop the spread of H1N1 and other flu viruses, we need the simple safety net provided by paid sick days. And paid sick days not only benefit families, they also save businesses money by keeping workers healthy and productive.

Sign the petition today:  The United States needs to allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and to protect our public health. http://momsrisingaction.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1924

Thank you!
–Katie, Mary, Kristin, Joan, Ashley, Donna, Sarah, Ariana, Dionna, Anita, and the MomsRising.org Team

P.S. Find important updates and information about H1N1 preparedness, response, and vaccine development from the CDC at www.flu.gov

1.  http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/07/swine.flu.h1n1.schools/index.html

2. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112035625&ps=cprs