"A young child is
no longer simply a child; he or she is a preschooler, poised at the starting
gate in the race of life." Neil Kurshan
CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES NOT PROTECTING FAMILIES
A report of the National Center for Children in Poverty (www.nccp.org),
"The Dynamics of Child Care Subsidy Use: A Collaborative Study of Five States,"
documents how the current child care subsidy system in the United States does
a poor job of protecting children and families:
"This study suggests that in addition to having trouble accessing subsidy
assistance, low income families may be having trouble retaining their assistance.
One of the clearest conclusions from decades of research on welfare dynamics and
employment of low-educated workers is that mothers in the low-wage job sector
experience both high levels of job instability and low levels of earnings growth
over time. This suggests that low-income families exiting welfare, and other working
poor families, are likely to need child care subsidy assistance for a long period
of time. The results of this study suggest that, currently, the assistance families
receive is not very continuous, does not last very long, and may be associated
with substantial turnover in their children's care arrangements. These dynamics
do not bode well for either families' economic security or for children's healthy
socioemotioinal development."
To learn about advocacy initiatives in the US aimed at improving our subsidy system,
check out our Strategic Partners web sites at www.ChildCareExchange.com.
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