The weak U.S. economy changed the lives of working parents in many ways, and roughly half say it impacted their child care, forcing some to dip into savings or change providers, though a majority still rank quality of child care as their top issue, a new survey found.
A clear majority of surveyed working parents, 73 percent, would support more public funding to improve child care quality, even if that funding would mean their taxes rose by $10 a year, according to a survey of 1,000 parents with children under the age of 12 released by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
Parents’ assumptions about child care also did not line up with current child care. The survey reported most parents believe:
- “Child care offers a learning environment (89 percent).”
- “Providers have undergone background checks (85 percent).”
- “Child care is licensed (78 percent).”
- “Providers are trained in child development (73 percent).”
- “The government inspects child care (67 percent).”
In fact, most states do not require learning standards, half require background checks with fingerprints and roughly half of U.S. states require child care inspections yearly or less frequently, the report said.
The reality is that most states do not require child care providers to have any training in child development before working with children. Half the states inspect child care settings once a year or less frequently – with some states inspecting child care settings once every five or 10 years. – “Parents Perceptions of Child Care.” 9/10.
The survey not only offers a picture of the challenges working parents face trying to pay child care bills, but it suggests a set of recommendations. You can read the full report here.
New Book on Importance of Prenatal Care: Check out Early Ed Watch’s take on the new book “Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives.”