Seldom has the need for this kind of awareness been greater. In the 1970s American families came to terms with the fact that the standard of living common a generation ago now requires two wage earners, thus women entered the labor force in dramatic numbers. Currently, in families with children under the age of six, more than 60 percent of mothers are wor king. The big news in 1999 was that for the first time, more than half the mothers of children under a year old were in the labor force. Unlike other industrialized countries, the U.S. has not adopted social policies to support families in this changing era of child raising.
Child care remains one of the lowest paid occupations.
As the economy has improved and provided more options, turnover in child care providers approaches 50 percent a year. Many of the situations in which children are placed during the day are unsafe and threaten their development. The younger the ages of children cared for, the harder it is to provide quality care, and the poorer the care is. It is understandable that the early years of being a parent are the most stressful for many families. While there has been some concern about the quality of care for young children, an almost forgotten group of young children are those with special needs.