To The Editor:

Childcare in this state costs more than a lot of mortgages, and I don't think most of the people making decisions in Hartford have had to budget around that reality in a long time, if ever. Amybeth Laroche has lived it.

What I appreciate is that she doesn't treat this as a side issue to mention once and move past. She keeps coming back to it and thinking about it so holistically. The cost of daycare isn’t the start and end of the conversation. There are many causes of this issue, such as the elimination of the single income household, the start and end times of schools, the rigidity of jobs insisting in office time, etc. She doesn't talk about it like some talking point picked up for election season. It's someone naming something she's dealt with herself and wants to see resolved.

I've done that kitchen table math myself, the one where you write out what daycare costs against what a second paycheck brings home, and the number on the page can make you feel like you’re just treading water. Unfortunately, I know it’s not a hypothetical for a lot of people in this town. It’s more like a Tuesday.

I want a state senator who understands that families are stretched thin from more directions than just the Eversource bill and the gas pump. I can tell she does.

Thank you for your time,

Jen Conlon

Newtown