Daycare Needs to be Provided by the State
One
of the most pressing challenges for the modern family in today’s economy is
balancing work with child care. The
United States lags behind the developed world in that we provide very limited
childcare assistance, only serving 5% of children under 5 years old. In our society, women still shoulder the bulk
of the burdens of child–rearing, meaning that in a society with no guaranteed
daycare, women are being kept from choosing to participate in the workforce and
contribute to productivity. This leads
to an underutilization of labor potential- Only 64% of American mothers with
young children work outside the home[1],
while over 80% of Finnish women do so.
This puts the U.S. at a disadvantage with underused labor potential, and
contributes to a limiting of women’s options.
Finland doesn’t
begin compulsory schooling until age 7, but guarantees childcare in a system of
non-mandatory kindergartens, some public and some private/subsidized[2]. Rates are assessed on sliding scale of
income, and tempered with subsidies.
Costs are capped at less than $4000
per year (equivalent), compared to average cost $10,000 per year in
United States, and only 15 percent of the total cost is assessed to parents. Since the implementation of this policy,
Finland has achieved 97 percent enrollment among 6 year olds, with 60 percent total
enrollment among children under 7. Furthermore,
the class sizes are tiny, with the legal limit set at one adult for seven 6
year olds, and the ratio of adults: children increasing as the age of the
children decreases. Each municipality
sets its plans to implement the national core curriculum, and the caregivers
must be either teachers or licensed nurses.
80 percent of mothers with children over 3 are working.
Childcare costs also
preclude equal workforce participation.
Akiko Oishi has documented the dilemma of high costs namely that to be
an efficient choice, the cost of childcare has to be less than the income of
the lower-paid parent. Japan meets a
problem in this regard as its tax code penalizes married women who work full
time, but offsets this with a relatively generous childcare subsidy.[3]
The
subsidized private model that has worked in Japan has not achieved its end in
the Netherlands. In 2004, the Dutch
government deregulated their childcare sector, switching over to a voucher
system for “child-minders”.[4] National inspections in 2010 and 2012 showed
these newly-deregulated child-minding facilities underperform compared to
traditional daycares in both physical condition and attentiveness to their
charges.[5] The National Daycare Trust concludes that
child-minders offer second-class care, with discrepancies in aggression,
anxiety, language skills, complexity of play, and socialization growing between
minded and preschooled children.[6] Aside from the poorer childcare, the system
fails to meet the goal of increased participation of women in the Dutch
workforce, with no resultant increase. A
market-based system that lessens childcare quality while leaving mothers’
employment unchanged is not the answer.
Encouragingly,
the U.S. has the skeleton of a government-run daycare system. Head Start, established during the Johnson
administration’s Great Society, serves a million children a year with federally
funded, locally run daycare/preschools along with nutrition and health
assistance.[7] This will form the core of any properly
expanded, universal childcare program for the United States. Head Start for all who want it would be a
good next step. Expand the program
gradually, raising the eligibility maximum as full enrollment is achieved. The many advantages of such a plan include
wider access to vaccinations and preventive pediatric healthcare improving the
lives of American children, and freeing up larger numbers of parents,
especially single mothers, to further their education or participate more fully
in the workforce.
Universal,
state-run childcare is a needed option for working families, and for societies
meaning to fully develop the potential of mothers. The future of children and the economy is too
important to be left to private vendors.
This system works- we just need to adopt and expand it. We pull this off, and we'll have a stronger workforce, more financially independent women and all the freedoms that brings, and better educated kids.
Solidarität, Genossen und Genossinnen- I'm back, I think
[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics , US Department of Labor. Employment characteristics of Families
Summary. August 26th, 2013. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.nr0.htm
[1]
[2] - Early Ed Watch Blog, Mead, Sara, December 15th, 2008 http://www.newamerica.net/blog/early-ed-watch/2008/how-finland-educates-youngest-
children-9029. “How Finland Educates its
Young People
[3] Akiko, Oishi. The Effect of
Childcare Costs on Mothers’ Labor Force Participation. National Institute of Population and Social
Security Research, Tokyo, 2002 p. 1
[4] Daycare Trust National Childcare Campaign. Childminders in the Netherlands. Policy Briefing, May 2012. http://www.daycaretrust.org.uk/data/files/Childminders_in_the_Netherlands.pdf. p. 1
[5] Ibid, p. 2.
[6] Ibid, p. 4.
[7] Satkowski, Christina. Head Start and State Pre-K: Competing,
Collaborating and Evolving
Early Education Watch, - September 8,
2009. http://www.newamerica.net/blog/early-ed-watch/2009/head-start-and-state-pre-k-competing-collaborating-and-evolving-14411
I'm glad you're back - and agree with this post. Solidarity!
ReplyDelete