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"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience." - George Washington

CHILDREN IN CARE 1 BILLION HOURS PER WEEK

A new book from the National Research Council, Working Families and Growing Kids:  Caring for Children and Adolescents (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2003; www.nap.edu), provides some updated statistics on the status of children and child care in the United States, such as...

*  A large percentage of the 35 million children and adolescents ages birth to age 14 with working mothers are in a child care arrangement with someone other than their parents for an average of 22 to 40 hours a week -- amounting to nearly 1 billion hours these children spend in out-of-home care each week.

*  From 1970 to 2000, overall maternal labor force participation rates rose from 38 to 68 percent and parternal labor force participation remained high and stable.

*  Only 45 percent of parents working in the private sector have guaranteed unpaid parental leave through the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.  Less than 5% have access to paid paternal leave.

*  Approximately 80 percent of children ages 5 and younger with employed mothers are in a child care arrangement for an average of almost 40 hours a week with someone other than a parent, and 63 percent of these children ages 6 to 14 spend an average of 21 hours per week in the care of someone other than a parent before and after school.

For more statistics on trends and demographics in the child care arena, check out the Exchange publication, Inside Child Care: Trend Report 2000, at: http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0116

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