Parents and child care advocates in Allegheny County staged a "virtual child care strike" yesterday to raise awareness of the impact of child care on business.

For the second year in a row, parents with children in licensed sites wore blue stickers to work indicating that they wouldn't be on the job without child care.

Organizers said they were calling attention to cuts in President Bush's proposed budget that would eliminate 9,900 subsidized slots and 4,000 Head Start slots in Pennsylvania over the next five years, even though more than 3,000 families are on the subsidy waiting list already.

The "strike" was sponsored by United for Children, Allegheny County's local planning group for early care and education.

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare estimates that the average parent loses eight days of work each year because of child care problems, at a cost of $645 per person per day.