Child Care Today: Getting It Right for Everyone - Hardcover

Leach, Penelope

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1400042569 ISBN 13: 9781400042562

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2009

Synopsis

From the universally admired author of the best-selling classic Your Baby and Child, the first comprehensive—and objective—book on the state of child care in America and the world today. Who is caring for today’s children? How well are they succeeding? What does care cost, and who is paying for it? How do parents go about choosing care for their children, and are they satisfied with what they find? Penelope Leach answers these and other urgent questions with facts and figures gathered from the most current research, brought to life by the voices of parents, including those involved in her own five-year study.

Leach sees “work-home balance” as being the major conundrum of the day. She delineates the challenge of fitting children’s unchanged needs into society’s changing demands and the dilemma of today’s parents needing to be in two places at once. She describes in detail the various ways Western countries address that challenge: care given by parents, extended family, and nonfamily; care provided in the child’s home, in other homes, and in professional settings; child care funded by paying parents or by the government. Considering the issues from the various viewpoints of politicians, policy makers, professionals, parents, and children themselves, the author discusses the impact of each kind of care on children of different ages.

Leach highlights the urgent need in America today for measures to raise the quality of child care, and to make the best care we can provide available to all families, just as it is (often by government mandate) in most other developed nations. Setting out clearly and candidly what is known about every aspect of child care—including the often hidden feelings and fears of parents—Penelope Leach presents a critical case for building and implementing an agenda for change.

About this title

Review:

"A masterful work by a luminary in the world of child development. If implemented, Leach's findings would revolutionize the way America cares for its young children and bring about a radical improvement in the lives of children and their parents--and in the economic, social, and intellectual well-being of our country." --"The Boston Globe"

"Leach offers counsel for all of us . . . She gives us a better way to think about the [child care] decision. . . . Both child-centric and sensible." --"The Washington Post"

"Will likely become the standard by which all other child-care books are measured. . . . There's no doubt "Child Care Today" will become the bible on the subject." --"Booklist "

"Leach looks at the things that matter. For any mother or father interested in examining their own choices in a global context, this book looks like a must-read." --"Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"

"Unparalleled in its comprehensiveness. . . . Should be required reading for those involved in policymaking regarding children and families." --"Library Journal "(starred review)

"Until we embrace children as everyone's responsibility, Leach insists, the 'working/caring conundrum' will continue to plague parents, and society will forgo the high dividends that result when an investment is made in quality child care." --"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

A masterful work by a luminary in the world of child development. If implemented, Leach s findings would revolutionize the way America cares for its young children and bring about a radical improvement in the lives of children and their parents and in the economic, social, and intellectual well-being of our country. The Boston Globe
Leach offers counsel for all of us . . . She gives us a better way to think about the [child care] decision. . . . Both child-centric and sensible. The Washington Post
Will likely become the standard by which all other child-care books are measured. . . . There s no doubt Child Care Today will become the bible on the subject. Booklist
Leach looks at the things that matter. For any mother or father interested in examining their own choices in a global context, this book looks like a must-read. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Unparalleled in its comprehensiveness. . . . Should be required reading for those involved in policymaking regarding children and families. Library Journal (starred review)
Until we embrace children as everyone s responsibility, Leach insists, the working/caring conundrum will continue to plague parents, and society will forgo the high dividends that result when an investment is made in quality child care. Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

From the Back Cover:

Child care is the 21st century′s biggest unsolved conundrum: children′s needs have not changed, but in a world that puts a premium on paid employment and personal fulfilment, who should, who can, and who wants to meet them?

Children′s wellbeing – even survival – depends as it always has on somebody taking care of them every minute of every day and night. When most mothers and fathers are in paid employment, much of the day–to–day hands–on care of children has to be done by someone else. But who is to do that caring, and who should bear the costs?

In this book Penelope Leach, a world renowned expert on child development and parenting issues and co–director of the UK′s largest child care study, offers an honest evaluation of these complex issues. She considers the view points of politicians, parents, and children themselves, and summarises what international research can tell us about the effects of different kinds of care on families and children.

Economic recession lends the book additional urgency. Must employed parents work even longer hours to protect their jobs and incomes? Will governments retreat from family friendly policies such as paid parental leave and flexible working to protect small businesses? For Leach, what matters most is recognising that children′s care is not just the responsibility of parents, often struggling to be in two places at once, but is intrinsic to the well–being of the whole of society. Child care is a problem not just for families, but for nations.

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1400042569
• ISBN 13: 9781400042562
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 350