Childcare Issues for Single Head of Households

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Childcare Issues for Single Head of Households Geraldine Numbers SOC 402 Mr. Martin DiBello March 9, 2009 Childcare Issues for Single Head of Households Single head of household families, including single, remarried, cohabitating, and same sex partners are expected to account for one-quarter to one-third of all U.S. families by the end of the century (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990). Millions of families, rich, poor and the middle class face instability caused by childcare issues. As more mothers and single fathers enter the workforce, child care has become an increasingly important public policy issue. Many families, particularly those with modest incomes, have trouble financing its cost. Poor quality of care is another persistent problem. Low wages for child care workers tend to promote high turnover and inexperienced providers, and a patchwork of state regulations inadequately addresses these concerns. The federal and state governments have a number of programs that try to address some of these issues, but many problems still remain unsolved. Most single head of households are headed by women and a disproportionate number are headed by women of color (Van Den Bergh & Cooper, 1986) and dividing families into categories such as intact or broken derogatorily labels mother- headed families; painting a picture that for women “our families come first” and one that suggests that men feel their careers come first. In actuality the rise of single fathers has seen its biggest increase in single headed households between 1990 and 2000 according to census data. Use to be that men were the bread winners and the mothers stayed home to take care of the kids, now our thought processes must change. We must start recognizing that just as many men are single head of households as women are. We must also recognize that when it comes to our
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