CHILD CARE.   Term Paper ID:26573 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Social need for day care, options, impact of changing socioeconomics, families & women's roles, govt. & corp. involvement.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Social need for day care, options, impact of changing socioeconomics, families & women's roles, govt. & corp. involvement. Paper Introduction: In today's economy American women must work and, in order to ensure the well-being of the country's children, large companies and government must provide childcare (and, sometimes, elder-care) programs to allow working parents to perform their jobs without being forced to neglect their family responsibilities. In the United States today 60 percent of all women and 75 percent of all men are in the workforce. This is a change in the society that has taken place over the last 30 years. Many women no longer have the choice of remaining at home until their children have grown and so parents are forced to find child-care options. Daycare for pre-school children, after-school services for older children, summer programs for older children, and care for elderly dependents of working men and women are often very expensive, good programs are rare, and, in many cases, they Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. If there are not enoughgood options open to workers the economy and the society will suffer theconsequences. Theother principal option for businesses is subsidy or a reimbursement programwhich allows employees to choose their preferred provider options and isespecially valuable in providing "low-income employees [with] access tootherwise pricey, high-quality care" (Sprague 14). 23 Feb. But government considerations also include the needs of middle-class Americans and Clinton's proposals included "increasing tax creditsfor firms that offer childcare benefits", $5.7 billion in tax credits forworking parents who employ outside childcare and for facilities thatprovide such care. S. Working parents' dissatisfaction with childcare ranges from the factthat facilities are inadequate, inconvenient and over-expensive to thestrong feeling that outside childcare of any kind is an inadequatereplacement for parental care. Even if the involvement of U. They also tend to provide the highest level of servicesince, "whether they are company-operated or contracted out to a serviceprovider [their] success reflects upon the company's image" (Sprague 13).Yet such sites are expensive and may require such high levels of fundingthat, as demand varies, they will prove to be unsound investments. In addition to the long summer breaks andoccasional illness, therefore, working parents must also accommodate"planned events such school closings or vacations" (Sprague 13). Since 1993, of course, mostbusinesses have met the law's demands. 1997: 5.Kossek, Ellen Ernst, Parshotam Dass, and Beverly De Marr. But the great majority of workingparents are not satisfied with their present arrangements and, in a recentHarris poll, only 8 percent of Americans "feel that the present childcaresystem works very well" (Reynolds 1). In addition, block grants to state andlocal governments were also under consideration for "improving the trainingand salaries of childcare providers in order to increase quality and reduceturnover among childcare professionals" (Reynolds 2). S.competitiveness has declined because of the decreasing quality of theworkforce and "adequate development and use of human resources," includingchildcare for workers, has emerged as an important issue for the future ofAmerican business (Kossek, Dass and De Marr 1121). Daycare for pre-school children, after-school services for older children, summer programsfor older children, and care for elderly dependents of working men andwomen are often very expensive, good programs are rare, and, in many cases,they simply do not exist. But while therise in the number of middle- and upper-middle class mothers who work maybe partially tied to feminist thinking, the numbers of women who work istoo great, and the change is too sudden, to be accounted for in this way.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics more than 5 percent of motherswith children under one year old work, almost 66 percent of mothers of 3-5year-olds work, and 75 percent of mother with children ages 6-13 areemployed (Reynolds 1). Among the differences between children cared for at home and those invarious childcare options day-care children show "high levels ofaggressiveness and antisocial behavior" and a tendency to be, in comparisonwith their peers, "apathetic, inattentive, and unresponsive" (Adelson 53).And researchers have found that day-care children's "intellectualdevelopment is impaired--not dramatically--but enough to achievestatistical significance" (Adelson 53). Onsite childcare, while probably the most convenient offering forparents, is a high-cost effort that is usually justifiable only in verylarge companies. Thus caring for the children of working mothers becomes a"women's issue" whether the individual woman has any ideological interestsor not. An equally large number feelthat government should also play a role in many respects--ranging fromsubsidizing the costs of childcare for workers to regulation of privately-run facilities and subsidizing the training of care providers (Reynolds 2). This is significant becausebusinesses had come to see the value of the law in terms of "productivityand morale payoffs" and, rather than resenting government interference,were on the way to the same conclusions already (Reynolds 1). 1998: 13- 14."Women's Issues, Women's Lives." Policy.com: The Policy and News Information Service. The effects of economic necessity increase, of course,in many one-parent families. The society will see an increase indysfunctional families and child development problems, as well as a declinein the economy. In the United States today 6 percent of allwomen and 75 percent of all men are in the workforce. Available http://www.pewtrusts.com/pubs/misc/childcare/child 37.cfmDionne, E. And access to ABC programs is not limited to employees of nationalsponsor companies--other community members, often operating with subsidiesfrom government or from their own firms, can pay to use many of the ABCfacilities. ABC is a national organization that is managed byWork/Family Directions, a "national provider of work-life services" thatinvests approximately $2 million per year in various child and elderlycare options throughout the country ("American Business"). 1994: 3 -4 .Reynolds, Larry. on ideology. "Weighing Your Childcare Options." HR Focus Apr. "Financing Child Care in the Private Sector." Online. As Mergenbagen notes, Americans have had morethan 4 million babies per year in the 199 s and there are over 2 millionmarriages per year. But the assumption that American parents want toescape caring for their children at home or are satisfied with currentprograms is simply mistaken. In marriages and divorces, "even in this era ofgender equity, women remain more involved than men" in the family'soperation--childcare, elder care, and the running of households(Mergenbagen 5). Its goal isto tie community demand for childcare to businesses interest in obtainingsuch care for workers, while, in some cases, exploiting possible sources ofgovernment aid. In the 199 s over 5 million Americansover the age of 65 were "chronically disabled and living in privatehouseholds" and more than a quarter of this group "had difficulties withtasks like shopping and household chores" while many more had more severedifficulties and "needed help with personal-care activities like eating,bathing, and dressing" (Mergenbagen 31). "What We Know About Day Care." Commentary Nov. 1997: 52- 54.American Business Collaboration for Quality Dependent Care. 4 May 1998. Individual companies will suffer from poor productivity anddifficulty in recruiting workers. The ABC either begins programs, which are managedby Work/ Family or subsidizes existing programs that meet standards ofquality and convenience. The programs thatare needed, therefore, are those that allow maximum interaction withtrained, caring childcare workers, educational components along the linesof Head Start programs, and, for older children, a range of activities thatinvolve physical and mental activity--thus providing for both play andschoolwork needs. 1999. Cooperative efforts involving government, employers, and independentagencies will probably prove to be the most workable solution in manycommunities. 1999. companies in childcare provision isnot mandated by the government, the trend toward subsidies and/or onsitecare has been growing rapidly during the 199 s. "Advocates Plan to Push for More Childcare Support." HR Focus Mar. Elderly dependents of working Americans constitute another growingsocial problem and many Americans may soon find themselves moving fromchild-care problems to difficulty in providing for the needs of dependentor semi-dependent elderly relatives. Young children's development can be harmed bypoor care, children who are left on their own are more likely to get intotrouble, and the economic and emotional pressures on parents have manyadverse effects on worker productivity and health and on family life. But the annual divorce rate is approximately half thatof marriages--around 1 million annually--and the children of brokenmarriages generally become the daily responsibility of their mothers ratherthan their fathers (3 ). Older children who areunsupervised after school have no one to oversee their homework assignmentsor ensure that they engage in activities that are healthy and stimulating.Such children frequently spend the great majority of their time indoors andsitting in front of televisions and video games. The American Business Collaboration for Quality DependentCare (ABC) is an excellent example of this type of approach. S. . Funding isprovided by fees paid directly by large corporations. The types of assistance needed byfamilies with elderly members in need of care can range from nearly full-time attendance to the more common daily round of visits to assist withmeals and chores, or, occasionally, placement in daily programs where theirneeds are met. (Reynolds 2). Internet. In the long run American business has begun to see that U. But government involvement is more likely to take otherforms--that vary according to the economic status of the working Americansin need of help. ABC assesses demandand supply in communities where these companies' workers live and "theresulting gap analysis leads to recommendations for projects and programs"that will allow the companies' employees to secure proper childcare("American Business"). As Dionne notes, it is pointless to blame the childcare problem inthe U. But thesefamilies cannot survive without two incomes and employers are seldominterested in flexible work arrangement that would enable parents to be athome from 3: on. Works CitedAdelson, Joseph. J. "Freeing Childcare of Ideology." Nation's Cities Weekly 2 Oct. This is a change inthe society that has taken place over the last 3 years. Among the options for government involvement in the childcare dilemmamany people favor "a legal mandate that requires all employers to providechildcare benefits"--either onsite programs or some form of subsidy(Reynolds 1). The problem is very great and, as Adelsonpoints out, this shift in American child-rearing, "given the fact that howwe are raised is the central circumstance governing what we become--isbound to have a deep effect on future generations" (52). Other suggestions includean increase in the amount of money parents be allowed to earn while stillreceiving government-subsidized child care (Reynolds). Some social conservatives claim that the rise in the number ofworking mothers in America is the result of feminist ideology thatsupposedly promotes "a utopianism that envisions a cost-free end to all theencumbrances and limitations of domestic life" (Adelson 54). Initiatives such as ABC represent a new type of response to a problemthat never existed before and only continued innovation from all parties islikely to solve the general problem of childcare for working parents. The question of who should provide the types of care programs neededby working American parents is the source of a great deal of controversy.As Dionne points out, many traditionalists who feel that mothers simplyshould not work reject such ideas as keeping schools "open until 6 p.m.with homework assistance, music, arts, or sports programs" because, theysay, this perpetuates the idea that "government bureaucrats and socialworkers can make up for what parents should do" (5). Online. In 1998 the Clintonadministration introduced a $21.7 billion initiative that provided $7.5billion for the "already-established state-based Child Care Development andBlock Grant", $3 billion for an Early Learning Fund, $3.8 billion for HeadStart and a Child Care Provider Scholarship Fund--all programs designedprimarily, but not exclusively, to aid poorer working parents ("Women'sIssues"). Available http://www.policy.com/issuewk/98/ 5 4/ 5 498a.html In 1992, for example, 97percent of big businesses (over 1, employees) offered some unpaidmaternity leave to employees (Mergenbagen 3 ). The problem is nearly as great for the parents of school-age childrenbetween the ages of 5 and 14, of whom more than 5 million are estimated bythe Children's Defense Fund, to be home alone after school on a daily basis("Women's Issues"). This is not a middle-class trend based on feministideology, but a change in the way the American economy works. "Job Benefits Get personal." American Demographics Sep. there are many two paycheck families--earning, say,$35, or $4 , a year" in which parents would like nothing better thanto be at home when their children return from school (5). Internet. This has occurred becauseof both long-term theoretical considerations and immediate practical needs. Government involvement in family matters could range from actual careprovision to regulation but is sometimes most effective when legislationshifts the responsibility to the shoulders of other parties. Forms of care include children placed with relatives,children placed with semi-professional or unlicensed individuals, andprofessional care facilities--including government programs and a growingnumber of corporate-sponsored efforts. Studies havefound that "the amount of stimulation and affection children get in theirfirst three years has a lot to do with how their brains develop" and, whilethis is something most parents "know about instinctively," it is oftenoverlooked in the pressing economic need that forces parents to work andseek care elsewhere for their young children--or, in many cases, parents,knowing that their children need them, are filled with guilt and stressover the need to leave them in care (Dionne 5). 1994: 1121-49.Mergenbagen, Paula. As Dionne points out, while traditionalists "saythe problem is that parents, especially mothers, are working too muchoutside the home . The organization is also heavily involved incurriculum design for training and in accreditation efforts for childcareproviders--thus providing for long-term and immediate needs of its sponsorfirms. 23 Feb. For the working poor it is recommended that Head Startprograms be expanded "to include infants, as well as preschoolers, and makeit an all-day, year-round program" (Reynolds 2). "The Dominant Logic of Employer-Sponsored Work and Family Initiatives: Human Resource Managers' Institutional Role." Human Relations Sep. . The Familyand Medical Leave Act of 1993, for example, required that businesses withmore than 5 employees offer "up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for newparents" and various forms of leave for family emergencies--including carefor elderly family members (Mergenbagen 3 ). Americans have to work and around 7 percentof them "feel that employers should play a role in providing child-careassistance to employees" (Mergenbagen 3 ). And these children are in the care of schools for lessthan 75 percent of the year. The lack of sufficientindividualized attention in young children and the lack of supervision inolder children may eventually have very serious effects as the greatmajority of American children spend some or all of their youth in the careof programs that do not take these factors into account. Thesenumbers clearly are not limited to middle-class families and, as theGeneral Accounting Office found, 65 percent of poor working mothers arekept in poverty by the high cost or unavailability of adequate childcare--which often accounts for as much as 25 percent of their salaries (Reynolds1). At the practical level,while it has become clear that "decreased absenteeism, reduced job turnoverrates and associated costs, less employee stress related to childcareissues, improved morale, enhanced recruitment, and improved community andpublic relations" are all side effects of corporate involvement inchildcare, companies' response has been uneven (Sprague 13). Itis in the best interests of both government and large companies to providecare opportunities for the dependents of American workers--and this hasbeen increasingly recognized by most Americans. As of 1997 the Children's Defense Fund estimated that working parentshad 13 million children of pre-school age who were in some form of day care("Women's Issues"). Many women nolonger have the choice of remaining at home until their children have grownand so parents are forced to find child-care options. 1994: 1-2.Sprague, Peg. In today's economy American women must work and, in order to ensurethe well-being of the country's children, large companies and governmentmust provide childcare (and, sometimes, elder-care) programs to allowworking parents to perform their jobs without being forced to neglect theirfamily responsibilities. But this law largelyreflected a trend that was already underway. Others claim that anyform of tax break for childcare or any government-sponsored (or -regulated)childcare initiatives is unfair to parents who sacrifice to stay at homewith children or might interfere with "care given by churches, neighbors--or grandma" (Dionne 5). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.