14.4: Child Care

Child care involves supervising a child or children, usually from infancy to age thirteen, and typically refers to work done by somebody outside the child's immediate family. Child care is a broad topic covering a wide spectrum of contexts, activities, social and cultural conventions, and institutions. The majority of child care institutions that are available require that child care providers have extensive training in first aid and are CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing, and reference verification are normally required.

It is traditional in Western society for children to be cared for by their parents or their legal guardians. In families where children live with one or both of their parents, the child care role may also be taken on by the child's extended family. If a parent or extended family is unable to care for the children, orphanages and foster homes are a way of providing for children's care, housing, and schooling.

Child Care in the United States

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2011, over sixty percent of families with children under five relied on regular child care arrangements. Around a quarter of those families used organized child care facilities as their primary arrangement.[1]

Of course these numbers have been highly volatile during and since the COVID 19 pandemic. In 2019 before the pandemic started, 66.4% of women with children under 6 were part of the US workforce. This dropped to 65.6% in 2021 (aauw.org) Lack of childcare was the main reason why almost half the mothers with children under 6 left the workforce (Gitlin et al, 2022).

Formal child care options include center-based care and family child care homes. Each state has different regulations for licensing child care centers, including teacher requirements. In some states, teaching in a child care center requires an associate’s degree in child development. States with quality standards built into their licensing programs may have higher requirements for support staff, such as teacher assistants. Head Start (a federally funded child care program for income qualified families) lead teachers must have a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. States vary in other standards set for daycare providers, such as teacher to child ratios.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Daycares and preschools support children’s development in many ways providing stimulation with colors, textures, toys, books, reading and multiple opportunities.[2]

State legislation may regulate the number and ages of children allowed before the home is considered an official family child care program and subject to licensing regulations. Often the nationally recognized Child Development Associate credential is the minimum standard for the individual leading this home care program.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Caregivers can provide care in a family daycare situation where they watch multiple children of different ages in their own home that has been licensed as a family care center.[3]

In addition to these licensed options, parents may also choose to find their own caregiver or arrange childcare exchanges/swaps with another family. This care is typically provided by nannies, au pairs, or friends and family. The child is watched inside their own home or the caregiver's home, reducing exposure to outside children and illnesses. Depending on the number of children in the home, the children utilizing in-home care can enjoy the greatest amount of interaction with their caregiver and form a close bond.

There are no required licensing or background checks for this type of in-home care, making parental vigilance essential in choosing an appropriate caregiver. The cost of in-home care is the highest of childcare options per child, though a household with many children may find this the most convenient and affordable option.[4]

Child Care Concerns in early childhood

About 77.3 percent of mothers of school-aged and 64.2 percent of mothers of preschool-aged children in the United States work outside the home (Cohen and Bianchi, 1999; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). Seventy-five percent of children under age 5 are in scheduled childcare programs. Others are cared for by family members or friends. Older children are often in after school programs, before school programs, or stay at home alone after school once they are older.

Quality childcare programs can enhance a child’s social skills and can provide rich learning experiences. But long hours in poor quality care can have negative consequences, especially for young children.

Quality of Care

What determines the quality of child care? One consideration is the teacher/child ratio. States specify the maximum number of children that can be supervised by one teacher. In general, the younger the children, the more teachers required for a given number of children. The lower the teacher to child ratio, the more time the teacher has for involvement with the children and the less stressed the teacher may be so that the interactions can be more relaxed, stimulating and positive. Larger group sizes present challenges to quality as well. The program may be more rigid in rules and structure to accommodate the large number of children in the facility.

The physical environment should be engaging, clean, and safe. The philosophy of the organization and the curriculum available should be child-centered, positive, and stimulating. Providers should be trained in early childhood education. A majority of states do not require training for their childcare providers. And while formal education is not required for a person to provide a warm, loving relationship to a child, knowledge of a child’s development is useful for addressing their social, emotional, and cognitive needs in an effective way.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Children can learn a lot before entering kindergarten, when they attend a day care center like this one where they are given the opportunity to play with multiple different kinds of toys.[5]

By working toward improving the quality of childcare and increasing family-friendly workplace policies such as more flexible scheduling and perhaps childcare facilities at places of employment, we can accommodate families with smaller children and relieve parents of the stress sometimes associated with managing work and family life.[6]

References:

AAUW (2019). Fast facts: Mothers in the workforce.

Gitlin, S., Gummadi, A., Krivkovich, A. & Modi, K. (2022). The childcare conundrum: How can companies ease working parents’ return to the office? McKinsey and Company.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Employment characteristics of families - 2021. News Release

Attributions:

Child Growth and Development by Jennifer Paris, Antoinette Ricardo, and Dawn Rymond, 2019, is licensed under CC BY 4.0

[1] Who's Minding the Kids by the U.S. Census Bureau is in the public domain

[2] Image Air Force Medical Service by the is in the public domain

[3] Image by the U.S. Air Force is in the public domain

[4] Lifespan Development - Module 4: Infancy by Lumen Learning references Psyc 200 Lifespan Psychology by Laura Overstreet, licensed under CC BY 4.0

[5] Image by Hurlburt Field is in the public domain

[6] Lifespan Development - Module 5: Early Childhood by Lumen Learning references Psyc 200 Lifespan Psychology by Laura Overstreet, licensed under CC BY 4.0