Blog # 6- Cost of Childcare

According to our text Putting Children First there are several types of child care arrangements that are used by working single mothers. There are several factors that go into deciding these child care arrangements. These decisions are “based on their contextual situations, the particular kinds of care available to them, and the interaction of these options with their work needs” (p. 35). There are four major childcare arrangements that include: home-based individual care, family care in the caregiver’s home, center care, and other settings. Home-based care would include, father care, older sibling care, a paid nanny or sitter in the child’s home, or close family or friends that provide care in the home. Family day care would consist of care in a person’s home who is licensed. Center care generally includes professional care in a community setting such as nursery programs, head start or early head start or pre- k programs. Lastly, other settings would include mothers care while working, specialized care or daycare in shelters, hospitals, or other specialized service institutions.

According to the text, child care arrangements are generally second best, but they are generally not the first option that mothers would choose. For reasons such as cost and availability, plus work schedules are restraints that would make women choose a second rate child care. In one of the videos titled Childcare Struggles, it explains how the family has to wait until the children are in school to have more, due to the high cost of childcare. They as a family were not able to afford to send multiple children to daycare, which meant they had to change their family planning. The constraints on child care concern families because their child’s development can be compromised. When a child is placed in secondary care a child may not develop was well as other children in professional care. A second problem that arises with child care for low income families is when the arrangement is ended. This can also cause a disruption in the child’s development because they do not have a stable arrangement. Situations like this one are explained in chapter 2 of Putting Children First. In the story of Brittany and Bethany, they explain the struggles in their child care arrangements and how Bethany was moved from arrangement to arrangement. This story is not unique, and the sad thing is many single mothers go through the same struggles.