(David Wagner / LAist)
Hi there,
I know I’m not the only one wondering where my kids are going to fit in our tiny apartment as they grow. My colleague David Wagner has been exploring this topic in his recent series.
Los Angeles’ severe lack of affordable family-sized housing has families moving out of state or deciding to delay having kids, leading to declining school enrollment and broken family ties.
The city of L.A.’s most recent housing planning document estimates a three-bedroom unit rents for about $3,995 per month, making family-sized apartments unaffordable to households earning less than $159,800 per year.
This is a challenge for millennial parents, who are increasingly considering leaving the region. And many are doing it. In L.A., the county’s population fell by more than 90,000 between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, driven in large part by families flocking to regions with more affordable housing.
“I want a house for us, or even just a space of our own — it doesn't have to be a house,” said parent Jasmine Delgado. “But it seems impossible in Los Angeles. That reminds me of how communities start to fracture, when people have to move far away from the places where they have roots, families, friends, jobs, memories.”
Read the story.
If you care about housing affordability and want to do something about it, scroll to the end of the story for some resources for voicing your concerns.
More on education
(Mario Tama/Getty Images)
What we’re reading
💡BTW, life hack: You can get free access to newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post through the Los Angeles Public Library.
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Australia extends parental leave to 6 months. How that compares to other countries (Time) So, Australia just passed a law that extends its national family paid leave to 26 weeks — which, of course, makes me think about what we have here in the United States. (Nationally, the answer is 0 weeks.) One part of the Time story talks about how Australia’s new law pales in comparison to other countries, such as Greece (43 weeks – nearly 11 months) and Sweden (240 days per parent or 480 days for single parents). If you want to know about California’s paid family leave laws, check out LAist’s guide on how to take family leave.
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Why you might want a doula (Parent Data) At LAist, we’ve done a lot of reporting on doulas, including our guide to what doulas do and how to find one. This roundup by Emily Oster describes who has studied doulas and how they affect people’s birth experiences.
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Aliso Canyon gas leak impacted pregnancies and babies (Daily News) UCLA researchers have found that babies born near the 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak were more likely to be born pre-mature or with low weights compared to other communities.
What are you reading? Reply to this email (yes, really) and share a link to something you’ve found interesting from the world of early childhood, pregnancy, and early parenthood. We might shout you out in a future email.
Thanks, | 
