The states of child care: building a better system

Foreword / Marcy Whitebook

Acknowledgments

Introduction: A Plea for Real Systems Change

Context: The Obvious (and the Not-So-Obvious)

Child Care: A Definitional Conundrum

Maternal Workforce Participation: A Love-Hate Thing

Child Care: Research Traditions and Policy Alignment

Glimmers of Hope

1. The Context of U.S. Child Care

Traditions in U.S. Policy for Nonparental Care of Children

Funding Sources

Characteristics of Families with Children in Non-Parental Care

2. The Public Face of Child Care: What's in a Name?

Historical Roots of Definitional Ambiguity and System Diversification

Today's Child Care Market

Examination of Child Care Program Names

Overall Conclusions

3. The Private Face: Dialogues About Women and Work

Historical Context for Public Discourse on Maternal Employment

The Voices of Employed Mothers and Child Care Workers

Conditions That Surround Women's and Mothers' Employment

Societal Ambivalence Toward Maternal Employment and Child Care

Conclusions

4. How Precious Are the Early Years? The Quest for Child Outcomes

Background: Ways of Knowing

Nonmaternal Care and Child Development

Quality in Child Care

How Precious Are the Early Years?

5. A Shining Star: North Carolina's Early Childhood System / Joanna Lower

Investigating the North Carolina System

Eras of Early Childhood in North Carolina

Characteristics of North Carolina's Early Childhood System

6. It's Time for New Approaches

Recommendation 1. Resolve Fragmentation with Integration

Recommendation 2 Replace Ambivalence with Workforce Development

Recommendation 3 Remember Our Audience

Appendix A. Child Care Program Names: Study Methodology

Appendix B. Employed Mothers and Child Care Workers: Focus Group Research Methodology

Appendix C. Demographic Characteristics of Focus Group Participants

Appendix D. North Carolina Discussion Group Participants and Discussion Guide

References

Index

About the Author

Foreword / Marcy Whitebook

Acknowledgments

Introduction: A Plea for Real Systems Change

Context: The Obvious (and the Not-So-Obvious)

Child Care: A Definitional Conundrum

Maternal Workforce Participation: A Love-Hate Thing

Child Care: Research Traditions and Policy Alignment

Glimmers of Hope

1. The Context of U.S. Child Care

Traditions in U.S. Policy for Nonparental Care of Children

Funding Sources

Characteristics of Families with Children in Non-Parental Care

2. The Public Face of Child Care: What's in a Name?

Historical Roots of Definitional Ambiguity and System Diversification

Today's Child Care Market

Examination of Child Care Program Names

Overall Conclusions

3. The Private Face: Dialogues About Women and Work

Historical Context for Public Discourse on Maternal Employment

The Voices of Employed Mothers and Child Care Workers

Conditions That Surround Women's and Mothers' Employment

Societal Ambivalence Toward Maternal Employment and Child Care

Conclusions

4. How Precious Are the Early Years? The Quest for Child Outcomes

Background: Ways of Knowing

Nonmaternal Care and Child Development

Quality in Child Care

How Precious Are the Early Years?

5. A Shining Star: North Carolina's Early Childhood System / Joanna Lower

Investigating the North Carolina System

Eras of Early Childhood in North Carolina

Characteristics of North Carolina's Early Childhood System

6. It's Time for New Approaches

Recommendation 1. Resolve Fragmentation with Integration

Recommendation 2 Replace Ambivalence with Workforce Development

Recommendation 3 Remember Our Audience

Appendix A. Child Care Program Names: Study Methodology

Appendix B. Employed Mothers and Child Care Workers: Focus Group Research Methodology

Appendix C. Demographic Characteristics of Focus Group Participants

Appendix D. North Carolina Discussion Group Participants and Discussion Guide

References

Index

About the Author