A report by the Children s Defense Fund found that parents are likely to pay more for child care than for a public college education. The lack of access to quality care and the subsidies to help pay for it can, in fact, be harmful to working families. In 1995, the Greater Minneapolis Day Care Association found that the vast majority of families who received a child- care subsidy utilized a regulated, stable form of child care and reported reduced levels of stress. In contrast, families waiting for assistance were more likely to use unregulated care and multiple caregivers. The study also found that once families receive child-care assistance, they continue to improve their economic status, thereby lessening dependence on other forms of public aid.
Child care is an organizing issue.
Conditions for family day-care providers are even worse. Pay is generally low and unstable, feelings of isolation are common, and poor conditions and long hours are the norm. In response to these abysmal circumstances, child-care workers across the country are protesting. And, according to the Child Care Action Campaign, New Hampshirites aren t the only ones getting organized. A large and growing body of research clearly documents that young children who spend time in quality child-care programs demonstrate better academic performance, higher graduation rates, and fewer behavior problems.