The Child-Care Dilemma

(5 of 9)
In the early 1970s, there was a flurry of congressional activity to provide child-care funds for the working poor and regulate standards. But under pressure from conservative groups, Richard Nixon vetoed a comprehensive child- development program in 1971, refusing, he said, to put the Government's "vast moral authority" on the side of "communal" approaches to child rearing. The Reagan Administration has further reduced the federal role in child care. In inflation-adjusted dollars, funding for direct day-care subsidies for low- and middle-income families has dropped by 28%.

California, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut are among the few states that have devoted considerable resources to improving child- care programs. Most states have done virtually nothing. Thirty-three have lowered their standards and reduced enforcement for licensed day-care centers. As of last year, 23 states were providing fewer children with day care than in 1981.

Nor have American businesses stepped in to fill the void. "They acknowledge that child care is an important need, but they don't see it as their problem," says Kamerman. Of the nation's 6 million employers, only about 3,000 provide some sort of child-care assistance. That is up from about 100 in 1978, but most merely provide advice or referrals. Only about 150 employers provide on-site or near-site day-care centers. "Today's corporate personnel policies remain stuck in a 1950s time warp," charges David Blankenhorn, director of the Manhattan-based Institute for American Values. "They are rooted in the quaint assumption that employees have 'someone at home' to attend to family matters."

There are basically three kinds of day care in the U.S. For children under five, the most common arrangement is "family" or "home-based" care, in which toddlers are minded in the homes of other mothers. According to a Census Bureau report called Who's Minding the Kids, 37% of preschool children of working mothers spend their days in such facilities. An additional 23% are in organized day-care centers or preschools. The third type of arrangement, which prevails for older children and for 31% of those under five, is supervision in the child's own home by a nanny, sitter, relative or friend.

Home-based groups are popular primarily because they are affordable, sometimes costing as little as $40 a week. The quality depends on the dedication of the individual mothers, many of whom are busy not only with their paid charges but with their own children as well. Darlene Daniels, 31, a single mother of three in Chicago, has been through four such sitters in six months. Two proved too expensive and careless for Daniels, who was earning $7 an hour as a janitor; another robbed her. "For most people, it's not their own kids, and they're just looking at the dollar sign," she complains. Only eight states have training requirements for home-based centers. Regulations governing the ratio of attendants to tots vary widely. In Maryland there must be one adult for every two children under age two. But in Georgia each adult is allowed to care for up to ten children under age two and, in Idaho, twelve.