Wow this is a heated discussion!
This is just my two cents, take it for what you will. I think the first thing that needs to change with jury duty is adequate compensation, to make up for lost wages. That's easy to accomplish and could be done just by bringing in your paystub from last week. Easy peasy.
As far as the childcare issue goes, similarly compensation can be made for childcare, elderly care, etc.
Then the biggest issue left is care for disabled or other extreme situations.
Again, just my two cents but I'm a military spouse. We've moved every year or two when my children were young. I did all my schooling online during this time and watched my (very young) children. Did I have other childcare options? No. why would I? There was no reason for it. I was there. If there was a TRUE emergency it would have meant either dh taking off work (for a few hours) or literally calling a family member in from another state and paying for their plane ticket. Is that a reasonable option for something like jury duty or does it make much more sense to simply defer it til a more reasonable time?
On a related note, I know in HS I was discussing jury duty with a teacher. He mentioned that when he was called for county jury duty they were more than willing to reschedule him a few months down the line (when he did indeed go in) over the summer so that he didn't miss any work. I don't know if this may work for some, but it could help. I don't know if every court does this.
And finally, in this thread there's a LOT of judging going on. To those who think childcare grows on trees, trust me it doesn't. I had to look long and hard to find childcare after our latest move. When you're new to an area, no you can't just ask at work, church, etc. I had and really still have no one to turn to. There's no family in the area and we've only lived here a few months. Is that enough time for YOU to build an emergency net of close family and friends? If so I could definitely use some hints!
And not everyone gets paid if they're not at work. I get no PTO, but we have enough of an emergency fund that we could cover it for a week or so. I have no idea what would happen if it were an extended period of time like a month or more. Similarly, I'm the ONLY one in my office. I take all the calls, do all the paperwork for our company. It IS a full time job and one taht a temp would have a hard time filling. I'd probably need to go in the evenings for at the very minimum a few hours just to process things. Dh is going back to school, should he miss his finals just for jury duty? Though i do think in his case the idea of shifting to another time (like over the summer) would be excellent.
Anyway, point being life is not always black and white. Obviously I believe in serving my country, and have made many sacrifices to do so. But sometimes the timing simply doesn't line up well. For some people it never will sadly. I also love the idea of volunteering for jury duty. And wouldn't it be nice if you could volunteer say while pregnant and taking some time off so you wouldn't need to be worried about being called in for the next 3 years?
Either way, I do think some changes need to be made, and simply telling people to deal with it very rarely helps matters.
But, if they didn't pay me, heck yeah that would be a hardship! Or if they called my Mom, who watches my kids! But I'd figure out something.... I don't have an issue for those truly in dire straits, but for those whose husbands make plenty of money and could afford a sitter, then yes, I have an issue there...
