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By
Catherine M. Pruissen
A
growing number of families need supplementary child
care - that is, care provided by someone other than
a parent. The reasons are well known: 51% of mothers
with children under one year of age, and 63% of mothers
with the children age 3-4 work part or full-time.
Single parent families headed by fathers add yet another
dimension. These youngsters need reliable, nurturing,
affectionate child care to thrive.
The
value of good child care is well documented. Early
learning experiences that help build resilience, social
skills, and the ability to keep learning have social
and economic benefits for everyone - children, parents,
employers and society as a whole - both now and in
the future.
On
the other hand, indifferent child care leads to poor
outcomes for children. Intellectual and social development
is likely to be stunted. Poor quality care can hamper
what and how well children learn. Low standards of
hygiene and safety in poor quality settings lead to
injury and illness for children.
Inadequate
care affects parents and employers as well, resulting
in absenteeism, tardiness, and low productivity. 14
% of employees simply quit their jobs. The cost to
retrain a single employee is estimated to be one and
one-half times the employees annual salary.
The
value of good child care cannot be understated, yet
far too many children continue to be denied quality
care. Many children spend their formative years in
settings that are unsafe or only custodial. Parents
are being lured into accepting listings of caregivers
from various caregiver groups without the support
and information they need to properly access a provider
or facility. Still others simply choose the first
caregiver or facility they come across based on price
and convenience. We spend more time choosing a vehicle
or for that matter a pet, than we do choosing a quality
child care setting.
Parents
know what they want from child care. A study conducted
by Child Care Aware, an ongoing public awareness campaign
sponsored by the Dayton Hudson foundation and other
valuable child care organizations in the U.S. points
out that parents are highly concerned about quality,
about the basic physical safety and security of their
children, about positive emotional and learning experiences,
about affection and fair discipline, about caregiver
turnover. Sadly though, parents are less concerned
about how to choose a child care setting that would
produce these outcomes. They emphasize "instinct"
and "gut reaction" when choosing providers. Yet many
are dissatisfied with their current child care arrangements
or have experienced poor quality care in the past.
Some tell horror stories of infants being scared to
go to a facility, hours spent in passive activities,
or children left soiled or unattended.
"The
problems are exacerbated for new parents, who may
lack reliable contacts who can recommend good care,
knowledge about what is reasonable to expect, and
the perspective that comes from greater parenting
experience," the report says.
The
resulting trial and error way of looking for child
care poses obvious risks for children. But it doesn't
have to be that way. child care online
maintains a wealth of practical data on the question
of quality. The knowledge base, including a variety
of workbooks and publications,
provide simple, widely-agreed-upon guidelines for
achieving quality.
The
problem is that public support for building a child
care infrastructure is dangerously low. It is limited
mainly to parents of young children who face the issue
every day. Many of those believe they can go it alone,
or that to pay for information on how to select a
quality caregiver or child care program is foolhardy.
Going it alone is not only unnecessarily difficult
and stressful, it places children in jeopardy. The
cost of quality child care is high - but the cost
of not investing is far greater.
The
challenges are clear. "Children are not just another
special interest group," says Child Care Aware. Parents,
employers and the community at large need to focus
on what constitutes quality child care. Parents need
to know how to find it, caregivers need to know how
to provide it, and employers need to be willing to
support their employees in their efforts. Not only
does the availability of affordable, high-quality
child care affect the well-being of the majority of
families, it affects the bottom line of every business
in the city.
child
care online has responded to these challenges
with publications and library files that enable families and children to thrive,
our economy to grow and prosper, and our future to
remain secure. Parents and employers need to ask themselves
what price they put on their child's safety and well-being.
The cost of one fast food meal alone is more than
the cost of an invaluable workbook or manual that
would help offset the costs of a lengthy consultations
when poorly-chosen child care arrangements fall apart.
In
the words of John DeShano, President, Levi Strauss
& Co. (Canada) Inc., "Today's workers are raising
tomorrow's work force. But the responsibility for
equipping young people with the skills and knowledge
they need to build productive, independent lives should
not be borne by parents alone. All of us - businesses,
government, educators and the community - must share
the commitment. For in today's' intensively competitive
market place - where knowledge and creativity are
the engines of economic growth - we all have a direct
stake in the education and development of our children."
Resources
Why Child Care Matters: Preparing Young Children
For A More Productive America
A Statement by the Research Committee of the Committee
for Economic Development
Committee for Economic Development
477 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Work and Family: The Crucial Balance
Ontario Women's Directorate
Ministry of Community and Social Services
Child Care: Quality is the Issue
By Elizabeth Ehrlich for Child Care Aware
an ongoing public awareness and consumer education campaign
sponsored by the Dayton Hudson Foundation. |
