2010-11 (Combined average): 6.19%Best year: 2007 (9.23%)Worst year: 2009 (3.15%)When the recession was at its worst, the newly laid-off could console themselves with one small ray of sunshine — they now had more time to spend with their children. However, those who managed to remain employed had to keep sending their little ones to day care, and the industry stayed afloat as a result. “For parents who held onto jobs during 2008 and 2009, child care services were a necessity,” Bierman said.

Bonnie Holliday, 39, and her husband, Leamon, both work full-time jobs in Atlanta. They send their two daughters, ages four and two, to an expensive Montessori school that they love.

Like many other parents in their situation, they both continue to work full time at home under coronavirus quarantine. And also like many other parents, they've had it with remote learning.

"We're about to call the game early and head on into summer," Bonnie Holliday said. "I've stopped visiting the emails. We're still paying tuition. We just can't do any of it."

Remote learning has been a necessary replacement for schools around the U.S. as coronavirus quarantines have ravaged the country. For older children, a combination of live Zoom classes, digital videos and virtual homework has been a reasonable replacement product for school.

In certain cases, remote learning might be able to enhance the educational experience by bringing parents and educators closer together to form a home life-school nexus that's previously been impossible.

But remote learning can also be a major burden on parents who are simultaneously conducting their own conference calls and trying to maximize their professional production. This is especially true for parents of small children who are too young to operate technology or even sit still for more than a few minutes at a time.

While educators may be wracking their brains over helpful remote learning tools, parents like the Hollidays can't help but wonder if remote learning is a loophole to avoid refunding money to parents — often thousands of dollars each month.

"I looked at one activity that asked for my daughter to send a picture of something made with pipe cleaners," Holliday said. "Where am I going to get pipe cleaners now? I would be less frustrated if they'd call it what it is. Just say, 'we have great teachers, we have to pay them, we hope to see you in July or August.' What I don't love is paying thousands of dollars for a virtual curriculum when my husband and I are just trying to survive on a wing and a prayer every day."

Anecdotally, I have a four-year old myself. I've witnessed Zoom calls degrade quickly as preschoolers waive at friends, ignore teacher instruction and inevitably get bored within a couple of minutes while parents try to corral them from running off screen and cajole them to participate.

Remote learning for toddlers and preschoolers call into the question the purpose of day cares and preschools. While parents are paying for learning materials and activities, they're also paying for professionals to safely watch their kids while they work. Quarantines have made this outside child care impossible, but many day cares and preschools have continued to charge parents tuition.

Holliday said she often can't even attempt work that requires sustained concentration until her children go to sleep because she's so busy attending to their assignments, frequently keeping her up until 1 a.m. or later.