Programmes of adequate child care can be built using local experience and capacity, responding to local needs with community -based approaches. This generally requires a subsidy from outside the community. In such programs the goals of quality and local ownership of the program must be consistently reinforced. Child care is both a social investment and an area of income-generation. It is important that those who work in child care jobs be provided with proper pay and benefits, and be recognized for their contributions to their community.
Child care is a whole-community responsibility.
Although women are traditional care-takers, men and elders need to be invested in young children too. Ways should be explored to integrate men and elders into the provision of care for young children, and to promote greater participation of women and men at all levels of decision-making that affect young children. Domestic labour, including child care, supports the fabric of a society. If women are to be integrated more fully into economic equations, then their work to care for the next generation of citizens needs to enter into national accounting systems. Contested Grounds by Robert G. Myers Notes prepared for a panel discussion at one of regional fora in preparation for the Beijing Women's conference, Guadelajara, Mexico.