THE CHILD CARE MOVEMENT Emily Gordillo

ECE 250
THE HISTORY OF CHILD CARE IN THE U.S.
-The majority of women that are mothers, are working mothers, and out of all of those
women most of them work outside of their home.
-For years women have invented different ways to care for their children while they
worked.
-They were able to come up with ways to watch their child, along with working and
providing for them.
-Some women strapped their children to their chest when they were to work using a
woven basket or cloth around their chest. Mothers have left children alone in cribs
and have locked them in cars in factory parking lots. For some who have the
convenience the child could stay with grandparents, play mothers, neighbors, or even
complete strangers.
CHILD CARE IN THE 21 ST CENTURY
- Times have changes since back in the day where some practices of child care are
no longer acceptable or frowned down upon. We have also experienced some good
changes throughout the years considering child care.
- For those who have the means and are willing to, preschool is now an option for
children of most ages. They have care for children of both young and old.
- By the 1900s more child care funds were available than ever before.
THE U.S. CHILDRENS BUREAU
- Julia Lathrop was the first chief of the US Childrens bureau.
-To help both children and mothers that came from a lower income family, the bureau
came up with a pension for mothers to receive in order for them to have the
opportunity to stay home with their child and take care of them.
-The goal of the bureau was to strengthen mothers pensions in order for them to be
able to stay home with their children, rather than increase the possibility of them
getting hurt or injured on the job leaving the child in a situation that can not be
helped.
THE NEW DEALS EFFECT ON CHILD CARE
-The depression and WW2 had an enormous impact on child care.
- Because the unemployment rate was so high, families were no longer enrolling their
child in pre school, as well as all of the charitable donations came to a stop.
- In attempt to make things better, the Works Progress Administration established a
program that allowed unemployed teachers to work.
- These free, government sponsored schools were open to children of all classes.
AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN
(AFDC)
- For the families that struggled financially, they wanted to link federal support for
child care father than forming two welfare bills.
- Their goal was to reduce the amount of people receiving welfare and prevent
women from becoming recipients in the first place.
- For three years feminists, labor leaders, civil rights leaders and early childhood
advocates worked with congress to legislate universal child care policy. There efforts
failed with President Nixon vetoed the Comprehensive Child Development Act of
1971.
THE REAGAN ERA AND WELFARE REFORM IN THE
1900S
- In the 1980s under Reagans administration the balance of federal child care
funding shifted dramatically. These measures led to the growth of voluntary and for
profit child care.
- The grant Child Care and Development Fund was a combination of several smaller
programs to make one single grant.
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE CHILD CARE MOVEMENT
- Since the 19th century child care has consisted of a range of formal and informal
provisions that were generally associated with the poor, minorities, and immigrants
and were associated with charitable and custodial.
- To draw attention to the need for child care a group of prominent philanthropists
led by Josephine Jewell Dodge set up a Model Day Nursery in the Childrens building
at the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exhibition.