摘要:

This paper reviews current policy issues in child care in the United States. Recent statistics on the demand for and supply of child care in the United States from national surveys show that, even though there may be selective shortages, overall there is an adequate supply of child care for preschoolers. Today, the most important issues are not supply per se but the quality and cost of care, and freedom of choice. The paper describes the market for child care from the point of view of the somewhat conflicting interests of parents, providers, children, and government. It focuses on the trade‐off between quality and cost, the effects of child care on children, the role of the government, and the effects of federal intervention. Finally, the nature of policy research is discussed with reference to the papers in this journal issu

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00284.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Approximately 11% of U.S. children have mothers on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). In 1988 this program was reformed to require mothers with children over the age of 2 years to participate in employment programs, and child care subsidies were guaranteed. This paper examines AFDC mothers' perspectives on their child care in 1983–1984, before welfare reform, to explore the characteristics of care that mothers are likely to seek. Mothers' ratings of their child care on quality, convenience, dependability, and cost showed that no particular arrangement—care by relatives, sitters, family day care, or centers—was superior across all these dimensions. Each type had strengths and weaknesses. Multivariate analyses of mothers' satisfaction revealed that convenient hours and adequate adult supervision were valued for all preschool children. Low child‐to‐adult ratios and convenient location were important for children under age 3; the child's learning opportunities and happiness, and lower levels of caretaker experience, were important for older preschool children. The type of care used was not directly associated with satisfaction. It is concluded that a diverse range of child care options should be

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00285.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Although most children whose mothers work receive some nonparental care, this “child care” varies tremendously in its characteristics, especially quality. Child development researchers and practitioners have explored in detail the characteristics of child care that provide the best environment for children. However, we know virtually nothing about which parents select “high‐quality” care for their children, or which arrangements most often have the features associated with the best outcomes for children. This paper explores these issues, using parents' reports of characteristics of their child's care arrangement from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results show that on several dimensions care in a home—the child's own, a nonrelative's, or a relative's—provides features linked to quality care. However, in general, parents do not pay more for the features of child care associated with high quality in the child development literature. The implications of these results

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00286.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A sample of 1307 center‐based child care staff was studied to assess predictors of job satisfaction and turnover, and to link these aspects of the adult work environment of child care to the quality of care, as assessed from a child development perspective. The staff were well educated in comparison to the female labor force, but they earned, on average, poverty‐level wages. High levels of career orientation and satisfaction with the day‐to‐day demands of child care work were expressed, alongside high intended and actual turnover rates, and very low satisfaction with salaries, benefits, and social status. Job satisfaction was significantly, but modestly, associated with wages, paid preparation time, reduced‐fee child care, and the quality of provisions for adult needs. Staff wages were the most important negative predictor of staff turnover and positive predictor of the quality of care provided to the children. The results highlight the need to incorporate facets of the adult work environment in research on the developmental effects of child care and in policy efforts to upgrade the qualit

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00287.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Professionals in early childhood care and education often claim that child care fees do not reflect the true cost of services, because of subsidies and in‐kind contributions. This paper reports results that identify the kinds of subsidies and estimate their importance in seven sites, representing four different kinds of child care settings, in the Denver‐Boulder metropolitan area. The study estimated the importance of five types of possible subsidies in the child care industry: from staff to clients due to abnormally low wages, from noncash and cash contributions, from philanthropic and government sources, and from subsidies implicit in fee schedules. In the average nonprofit center studied, resources that would cost $638 per month were reduced to a net cost (to the family) of $149 because of subsidies. Low wages were the primary factor holding down costs in child care, reducing costs an average of $186 per child per month. Contributions to the centers and subsidies to parents also played major roles. There was substantial variation among the sites, and the relations between cost, client socioeconomic status, and quality of care were complex and une

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00288.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article explores the relationship between profit and quality in early childhood care and education from historical, research, and policy perspectives. It analyzes why the profit/nonprofit debate is endemic to our current system and why it is so salient for current policy. Drawing primarily upon four studies that have compared quality in profit and nonprofit early care and education settings, and upon selected other studies, the analysis offers suggestions for future research and policy initiatives to improve the nation's child care system.

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00289.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Assessments of 150 2–4‐year‐olds in six different child care arrangements revealed that the social and intellectual development of children in centers (part time or full time) was advanced over that of the children in home care (with mother, sitter, or day care home provider). Previous research was reviewed to account for this finding. It was concluded that the most likely causes of the difference in children's development were educational lessons, opportunities to practice skills and follow rules with a variety of peers and nonparental adults, and encouragement of independence by nonauthoritarian teachers—experiences that are qualitatively different from the experiences most children have in home care envir

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00290.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The “first wave” of day care research, asking whether the development of children in day care and home‐reared children differs, has gradually given way to a “second wave” of research, asking what are the implications for children's development of variation in day care quality. Although this second wave of day care research is still actively underway, it is a fruitful time to evaluate how far we have come in our understanding of day care quality. This article examines how research defines and operationalizes quality, and it assesses the evidence for four questions: Does variation in day care quality have implications for children's daily experiences in day care? Do cognitive and socioemotional development vary with day care quality while children are still in care? Is there any evidence of enduring implications of day care quality for children's development? And how are family socioeconomic and psychological factors and day care quali

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00291.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This research used the 1986 merged child‐mother data file from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to explore how various forms of infant care in a child's first year were linked with scores at ages 1–4 on the Memory for Location, Motor and Social Development, and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test measures. The extent to which these linkings were mediated by an infant's health and gender was examined and important distinctions were noted. In particular, healthy infant girls received some cognitive advantage by being cared for extensively by caretakers other than their mother during infancy, whereas infant boys with health problems gained socioemotionally by spending more time with their mothers. More generally, it was concluded that usually, the average young child's ability to cope intellectually and socioemotionally (as measured on the above scales) is not affected in major ways either positively or negatively by the generic nature of his or her child care arrangem

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00292.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper presents findings from a survey of child care use by teenage parent Aid to Families with Dependent Children recipients in three low‐income metropolitan areas. The teenage mothers surveyed were participants and control group members in demonstration programs that provided access to a range of services similar to those being implemented under the Family Support Act of 1988—employment training, education, and supportive services including child care assistance. The results focus on the need for care, the extent to which child care is a barrier to participation in employment‐related activities, the types of child care used, the cost of care, and mothers' satisfaction and problems with their arrangements. The child care arrangements made by the teenage mothers are also compared to those made by other mothers of young children in the local

ISSN:0022-4537    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00293.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY