As more and more mothers have moved into the work force, the varied effects of day care have provoked bitter debate. But whatever their positions in these debates, most parents take it for granted that day care will not be physically dangerous. To a larger degree than many realize, this assumption is incorrect. In a query of all 50 states and the District of Columbia concerning deaths in child-care facilities, U.S. News tallied 76 deaths in 1996. Even fewer states record injuries.
Figures also are difficult to obtain because so many of the nation's facilities are unregistered.
The great waves of safety regulation in America, from the meat-packing reforms of the muckraking era to the pesticide controls prompted by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, have stemmed from concern that without regulation, public safety will be at risk. Worries about children's safety have led to no such day-care reforms. Typically, the required training for day-care workers is minimal, oversight is cursory, and standards are low. Agencies fail to share data that might have prevented injury and greater tragedy. Starting a day-care center is easy.