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Quotes from books about daycare
- 1995-99,
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Quote/Comment |
Who Needs Parents?
The Effects of Childcare and Early Education on
Children in Britain and the USA, by Patricia Morgan,
October 1996, p 52-53 |
The Children Act also lays down guidelines for
local authorities to consider before they register a person as 'fit' for
childminding*, ranging from considerations of
mental stability to an 'ability to provide warm and consistent care', to
basic health and safety requirements. However, the registration system 'is
to operate on the basis that the local authority has to be able to
demonstrate why they are satisfied that a person is not fit and/or the
premises and/or equipment are not suitable', with 'evidence which will stand
up in court'. In reality almost anybody who applied to be registered is
accepted. Indeed, the authorities sometimes register women who are known to
fall below adequate standards in order to keep an eye on them and stop them
minding illegally.
It is very difficult to 'de-register' a minder...
*Childminder- British term
referring to a person, usually a woman, whose job is to take care of other
people's children in her own home.
Category =
Regulation |
Who Needs Parents?
The Effects of Childcare and Early Education on
Children in Britain and the USA, by Patricia Morgan,
October 1996, p
53 |
Industrial Efficiency?
Good intentions about childcare quality have a habit of being engulfed by
concerns about the sheer availability and cost.
This reveals the contradictions at the heart of demands for mass childcare.
Clearly, claims that childrearing at home is outmoded, inefficient and
costly in terms of the loss of the mother's labour power, must be weighed
against the extraordinary difficulties of rearing children effectively
outside the home. At the heart of the argument for the economic advantages
of daycare are assumptions that there are economies of scale to be achieved
by having one person look after lots of infants, while a mother is only
looking after one or two at a time. The 'spare capacity' represented by
under-utilised maternal earning power can then be converted into a surplus
for herself and the state and even profits for the caring institution. This
is virtually inseparable from beliefs that women are 'over qualified' for
looking after children. As the implication is that this can be handed over
to someone whose labour is worth less than the mother's own then it is not
surprising that childcare workers are a the bottom of the earnings scale (in
the UK).
Category =
Economics, Quality |
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Quotes from books about daycare
- 1995-99,
p18 |
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Last updated:
02/27/2008
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