Living: The Child-Care Dilemma

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The U.S. is the only Western industrialized nation that does not guarantee a working mother the right to a leave of absence after she has a child. Although the Supreme Court ruled last January that states may require businesses to provide maternity leaves with job security, only 40% of working women receive such protection through their companies. Even for these, the leaves are generally brief and unpaid. This forces many women to return to work sooner than they would like and creates a huge demand for infant care, the most expensive and difficult child-care service to supply. The premature separation takes a personal toll as well, observes Harvard Pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, heir apparent to Benjamin Spock as the country's pre-eminent guru on child rearing. "Many parents return to the workplace grieving."

New York City Police Officer Janis Curtin resumed her assignment in south Queens just eight weeks after the birth of Peter. The screaming sirens and shrill threats of street thugs were just background noise to a relentless refrain in her head: "Who can I trust to care for my child?" She tried everything, from leaving Peter at the homes of other mothers to handing him over to her police-officer husband at the station-house door when they worked alternating shifts. With their schedules in constant flux, there were snags every step of the way. Curtin was more fortunate than most workers: police- department policy allows a year of unpaid "hardship" leave for child care. She decided to invoke that provision.

The absence of national policies to help working mothers reflects traditional American attitudes: old-fashioned motherhood has stood right up there with the flag and apple pie in the pantheon of American ideals. To some people day-care centers, particularly government-sponsored ones, threaten family values; they seem a step on the slippery slope toward an Orwellian socialist nightmare. But such abstract concerns have largely receded as the very concrete need for child care is confronted by people from all walks of life.

Child care is fast emerging as a political issue. At least three Democratic presidential candidates have been emphasizing the need for better facilities and calling for federal action. Former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt has proposed that the U.S. Government establish a voucher system to help low- income parents pay for day care. Delaware Senator Joseph Biden favors federal child-care subsidies for the working poor and tax incentives to encourage businesses to provide day care. If elected, he vows, he will set up a center for White House employees as an example to other employers. Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who has established the country's most comprehensive state-supported day-care system, would like to see the Federal Government fund similar programs throughout the U.S.

Last week the issue surfaced on Capitol Hill. In the House, Republican Nancy Johnson of Connecticut and Democrat Cardiss Collins of Illinois introduced legislation to establish a national clearinghouse for information on child-care services. A Senate subcommittee began hearings focused on the shortage of good-quality, affordable day care. Says Chairman Christopher Dodd of Connecticut: "It's about time we did something on this critical problem."