Let’s call this what it is: a man-made disaster.
This federal shutdown isn’t an abstract political showdown or a cable-news storyline. It’s a family crisis playing out in real time — one that will leave parents desperate and children hungry. And what’s most infuriating is that it’s entirely preventable.
If Congress doesn’t act soon, Head Start programs across the country will start shutting their doors on November 1. That means more than 65,000 children — mostly toddlers and preschoolers — could lose the safe, nurturing classrooms where they spend their days learning, eating, and growing. For the parents of those children, it means scrambling to find child care they can’t afford or being forced to miss work altogether. No work means no paycheck. No paycheck means no rent, no groceries, no gas to get to the next shift.
And as if that weren’t enough, SNAP benefits — the program that keeps food on the table for more than 44 million Americans — will run out of funding on November 1. Roughly one in four children in this country rely on food assistance. If the shutdown drags on, those benefits could stop within weeks.
This is not a budgeting issue. This is not “belt tightening.” This is families being told to go without a paycheck and food on the table.
From Baby Bonuses to Food Bank Lines
A few months ago, this same administration was busy floating ideas about rewarding women for having more babies — medals, scholarships, even tax breaks for families with larger households. Now, those same officials are saying the government can’t afford to feed the kids who already exist.
Let me get this straight: you want to hand out medals for motherhood, but you’re cutting off the programs that actually help mothers survive? You want to encourage families to have more children, but you’re taking away the systems that give those children any shot at thriving?
It’s a masterclass in hypocrisy.
Affordable child care and food aid aren’t luxuries. They’re lifelines. They are what allow parents — especially moms — to work, to provide, and to keep their children healthy and safe. Pull those away, and you don’t just create financial strain; you create fear. The kind that keeps moms awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering how to stretch a half-empty fridge or how to explain to their kids why school is closed again.
Hard Work Isn’t the Problem — Political Neglect Is
And spare me the lecture about “working harder.” Tell that to the mom making $7.25 an hour, the same federal minimum wage it’s been for more than 15 years. Tell that to the mom paying $1,800 a month for a two-bedroom apartment, $3.50 a gallon for gas, and $13,000 a year for child care — if she’s lucky enough to find an open spot. Then tack on the price of groceries, utilities, health insurance, and everything else it takes just to survive.
If that mom is turning to SNAP to feed her kids, she’s not lazy. She’s doing exactly what we tell Americans to do: work hard, hold it together, and do right by her family — in a system that’s stacked against her.
That’s why the old “welfare queen” narrative that’s been resurfacing online makes my blood boil. It’s cruel. It’s propaganda. And it’s a distraction. It’s meant to shift blame away from those in power and pin it on the very people paying the price for their failures. If you see those videos or comments floating around — the ones telling families to “get a job” or “stop taking handouts” — don’t ignore them. Set the record straight. Because what’s happening right now isn’t about personal responsibility. It’s about political negligence.
I don’t know about you, but I’m angry. And I’m scared — not for myself, but for the millions of parents who are now being forced into impossible choices:
Do I skip meals so my kids can eat?
Do I leave my job to stay home with my child now that her Head Start center is closed?
Do I risk losing everything because Congress can’t do its job?
No parent should ever have to ask those questions.
If you’re reading this and feeling the same fury building in your chest — good. Because anger, when harnessed, can move mountains.
Action Center
We’ve Held It Together Long Enough — Now Let’s Act
The truth is, moms have always been the shock absorbers of America — cushioning every hit, holding families together when everything else falls apart. But we shouldn’t have to keep doing it alone.
Here’s what we can do right now:
- Check out the First Five Years Fund’s “End the Shutdown” Action Center where you can quickly email and call your members of Congress.
- Share your story. If this shutdown is affecting you, your child, or your community, tell us here. Your voice can help make the human cost impossible to ignore.
- Donate to families who will soon be missing their SNAP food benefits
In Case You Missed It
No Mom Should Face This Nightmare Alone
We’re keeping things spooky this week because let’s be real, the scariest thing this Halloween isn’t the haunted house down the street. It’s the threat of programs like SNAP and Head Start getting slashed.
Our Instagram and Facebook peer-to-peer fundraisers are a fun (and easy) way to fight back. We’ve made it super-simple and created fun Halloween graphics and sample captions you can use to get started.
Join the coven, raise a little money, and help us make sure no mom faces this nightmare alone.
👻 Download the guide to get started →
Or, if you’d rather skip the setup you can donate directly to Moms First.
Things to Read, Watch, and Listen to This Week
- Book: Having It All (Corinne Low, PhD)
- Newsletter: Child Care Is Expensive and Hard to Find. Here’s How We Fix It. (Parent Data)
- Article: The Real way to Boost Birth Rates (Time)
Making Headlines
Check out what people are saying about Moms First in the news:
- Why Mothers Deserve To Be Seen, Supported, And Remembered (Forbes)
- The issue that forged the unlikely Mamdani-Hochul alliance (The 19th)
If you’re angry, if you’re scared, if you’re exhausted by the hypocrisy of a country that says it values families while leaving them to fend for themselves, you’re not alone. And you’re right to be furious.
Because this isn’t just a government shutdown. It’s a shutdown of compassion. And it’s time we turned it back on.
Standing with every mom fighting to make ends meet,,
Reshma Saujani