¶ … day care on children. It shows that historically mothers have typically had help raising their children, but that until recent times, that help typically came from close relatives, not programs outside the home designed for profit. The paper looks at the research and concludes that there are important differences between some day care centers and others. The best programs allow children to develop emotionally and behaviorally and produce children who are well prepared for later academic success. The research also identifies a specific group of children who would benefit from quality day care because such programs would enrich their background and better prepare them for school, but that the best programs are expensive and out of the reach of the families whose children might benefit the most from them.
INTRODUCTION
Childcare can serve two purposes for a family. It can be part of the educational plan for the child, and it can be a way to allow the mothers of young children to work outside the home. The two goals are sometimes in conflict because to be educational, the childcare must be of high quality, and such programs are expensive. They are often out of reach for families where there is an economic need for the mother to work outside the home (SSUV & KLC, Inc., 1999).
HISTORY OF DAYCARE
We tend to think of day care as something new, but in fact throughout history mothers have shared the care of their children with others. Mothers in all cultures have traditionally had the help of family and friends for childcare. What has changed in modern times is who provides that assistance. High rates of employment for women have reduced the availability of family members. In addition, two historic events caused a rise in daycare facilities. The first was World War II. Women were needed to work in factories and other jobs to support the war effort, and that increased demand for daycare. After World War II, the United States population became more mobile. Mothers did not always live near family members who could help with daycare. When family members helped raise children, it was a reasonable assumption that they had a deep desire for the welfare of those children. This cannot be assumed when non-family members are...
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