The reality, though, is that most day cares compete with factories and fast-food restaurants for workers. In North Carolina, anyone with a high-school diploma and no serious criminal record can work in a center, as long as she gets a little over two days of training in the first six months. Caregivers who take children into their homes don't even need the diploma, and often make less than minimum wage. Dick Clifford, a child-care researcher at UNC Chapel Hill's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, agrees. Low pay, low standards and complaints about low quality can be demoralizing for those who choose a child-care career.
Child care is a field in transition.
Work once done by unpaid, untrained mothers and relatives has evolved into a business that employs thousands and serves as a lifeline to the rest of the economy. For policymakers, the result is a clash between those who demand more regulation and better pay and those who say government should get out of family matters. For parents, the result is a disturbing range of quality, sometimes even within a center. Many parents, including Dunkle, eventually find caregivers they love. Indeed, good care can be found at a range of day cares, even some where pay is low and classes large.