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The Problem with Daycare
by Karl Zinsmeister,
The American Enterprise
May/June 1998, page 14 & 15 |
In order to be affordable, mainstream day care
will always require several children to share a single caretaker.
Which brings us to the next inherent flaw that plagues paid childrearing --
the problem of lack of individual attention. Fredelle Maynard reminds
us that "a mother of twins is hard pressed to give two babies all the
cuddling they want. What can be expected of a
caretaker who's in charge of four infants--or six?
With the best will (intentions) in the world, that caretaker will be obliged
to give some infants a propped-up bottle, to let others cry while she
performs essential tasks."
Category =
Quality |
The Problem with Daycare
by Karl Zinsmeister,
The American Enterprise
May/June 1998, page 15 |
Consider that the birth of triplets is
literally considered an emergency situation which automatically
qualifies two parents for caretaking assistance and special social aid.
Yet in hired day care, the very best
institutional situations involve three or four infants assigned to a single
caretaker. This is what gets called "high
quality care."
Category =
Quality |
The Problem with Daycare
by Karl Zinsmeister,
The American Enterprise
May/June 1998,
page 15 |
In average cases, things are worse yet. The
government's National Child Care Survey showed that among centers caring for
one-year-olds, the average group size is currently ten, and the child/staff
ratio is nearly 7:1. Even this is probably an underestimate, since the
survey was based on voluntary responses from day care centers and the worst
institutions usually don't cooperate.
For many readers, those dry numbers may seem unexceptional. They give
no hint of what it's really like to be responsible for several infants or
toddlers at once. I suggest anyone who thinks 7:1 or even 4:1
sounds like a reasonable ratio ought to try it someday with real babies.
I can promise that you'll experience chaos and practice neglect.
You will be lucky just to keep up with diaper
changing. Very little real fostering will take place under such
conditions.
Category =
Quality |
The Problem with Daycare
by Karl Zinsmeister,
The American Enterprise
May/June 1998,
page 16 |
The problem is not that day care
workers are thoughtless, but rather that they work within a structure where
fine-tuning and sensitivity are simply not possible.
Category =
Quality |
The Problem with Daycare
by Karl Zinsmeister,
The American Enterprise
May/June 1998,
page 16 & 17 |
Many observers say all that's
needed is some new laws requiring higher adult-to-child ratios. But
they overlook day care's basic nature. Getting the ratios up to a
humane level would amount to recreating families artificially, and the
reason day care exists to begin with is because there aren't enough adults
currently willing to spend their days in families. Even if you
could provide enough adult bodies in every day care setting, you
would, as Penelope Leach points out, "have lost your economies of scale*."
*Economies of Scale - These occur when mass
producing a good results in lower average cost. The more of a good you
produce, the less it costs for each additional unit. For example, a
plant that produces 1000 cars would be more efficient than a plant producing
five cars.
Category =
Economics, Quality |
Last updated:
07/03/2011
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