Costs of Childcare

The second chapter in Putting Children First descried the challenges and constraints involved in child care choices. The first mother, Brittany, found it challenging to find adequate childcare while she finished a welfare-to-work program. Since she couldn’t afford an actual childcare provider she left her 7 month old daughter with the baby’s uncle. She soon found that he was unreliable and started leaving her baby with her sister but this too was a challenge because she would have to leave her there for days at a time and missed her terribly. (Chaudry, pg. 28-32)
Mothers like Brittany have to make child care choices that are usually constrained by several factors beyond their control. The child can limit her childcare choices depending on his or her age, health, and special needs. The mother’s job requirements, resources and attitudes about a particular establishment can also be factors that constrain her choices. Of course cost, availability, location and regulations can constrain her choices as well. For example after Brittany had kin care, she switched to an informal care arrangement that failed because it was too expensive and she didn’t trust the provider. Also, after waiting three years to receive assistance from the ADC, her choice to leave her child there was constrained because there was no availability.
The ranges of child care used by other low-income mothers are varied and include kin care, informal care, family day care and center care. Kin care is when a family member cares for the child usually a grandmother or a sibling. The pros of kin care are that the mother trusts the caregiver and they can usually provide care for free or very cheap but the concerns are that this care is usually short term and may provide less developmental activities. Informal care is where a neighbor, friend or acquaintance cares for the child usually cheaply but there is a concern about trust and care elements like cost, food and diapers are not negotiable. Family day care is given by a licensed provider in their home with other children. Center care is a public establishment run by the government or private business which is the most structured form of child care but also the most expensive.
Most of the concerns that mothers have is about their children’s development and whether or not there is enough structure and activities for them at their childcare. If there are only few children being watched together the child will miss out on developing interactional skills with other peers. On the other hand there could be too many children and the child may not receive enough individualized attention. One mother, Uma, said that her child was not getting the specialized care necessary for proper development. She says that at the Head Start program her son attended there were too many special needs kids for one classroom but she couldn’t complain since it was free.
All mothers are concerned not only about the child’s development but also about the child’s safety in general based on the competence of the caregiver be cared for in a healthy and safe environment, but unfortunately oftentimes this is not the case. According to a study conducted by the Applied Research Center, in the states of Alabama, California and Maryland revealed that the national childcare standards in many childcare centers are non-existent, not enforced or inadequate. In Alabama for example unlicensed childcare centers have the State’s permission to ignore the standards which account for basic health and safety standards. In California, the standards are enforced in all establishments but there is not enough funding to adequately check each place. (www.arc.org)