the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 16, 2026
Childcare is totally unaffordable for most working-class families. Forget about having one parent work and one stay home on today’s wages. Plus this society grinds up huge numbers of parents: they have their own untreated health problems that keep them from being caregivers, or are caught up in addiction, or are in prison. And in this society, where the fate of a child depends on the luck of what family they are born into, today’s children bear the brunt.
Luckily, many children have grandparents. Across the country, grandparents are picking up more of the slack to help raise children. Of course, grandparents have always been important in children’s lives. But fewer grandparents are able to be the fun ones who play with the kids and give them back, and more are having to take on the main caregiving responsibilities. It’s nice to be in the grandkids’ lives, but it’s also nice to have a choice about it!
According to one study, more than one million children under 18 are now cared for by grandparents, more than half by a single grandmother.
Many grandparents raising kids skip meals themselves, put off going to the doctor, or keep working well past the age of retirement. The share of Americans working past the age of 65 has doubled since the 1980s. And an analysis by Business Insider found that the rate of people working in their 80s has gone up by about 50% just since 2010. Today, about 550,000 American workers are in their 80s.
These working class grandparents have created huge amounts of wealth over their lives, more than enough that they should be able to retire. But that’s not how this capitalist society is organized!