Sayer notes on Uber-like services for kids
Joe Pinsker, writing for The Atlantic, accounts the slew of small companies that offer safe and prescheduled car rides for unaccompanied kids whose parents are overstressed from duties. This Uber-like service, Zūm and Sheprd, hire background checked drivers with multiple caregiving years of experience charging approximately $15 for a 15-minute ride. Faculty Associate Liana Sayer, who specializes in families’ time use, commented that “for more disadvantaged families, my guess - and it’s only a guess - is that it wouldn’t really have an impact, because of the cost of the service.” Thus, this service is said to be a big help to well-off families with working parents and overbooked children, but for parents who can’t afford it, this service might just not be an option. Sayer added, “Companies don’t deliver - restaurants won’t deliver and certain companies won’t deliver packages - to disadvantaged neighborhoods, because of concerns for their drivers,” limiting the target of who gets to use this kids’-rides service.
Additionally, cutting off this service will encourage parent-child interaction, as Sayer suggested, “a space that allows parents and children to talk, sometimes about difficult things to talk about; so I wonder if parents would have mixed feelings about giving up this time.”