Childcare, a Phenomenon of our Time

The term "childcare" has assumed a specialized meaning in our time. It has come to signify the use of a resource outside the home for the daily rearing of children, particularly the youngest. Practitioners of all types have sprung up in our social structure to assume the responsibility for the care and nurture of infants to kindergartners and beyond. Parents have come to rely on this resource for help in rearing a child. Or it may be found a necessity while they assume responsibilities as a part of the work force. State governments have established whole departments to regulate this practice and to provide some measure of assurance for the parents that their child will indeed receive proper care in a particular setting.

Child The merits of childcare outside the home are arguable, but the reality of it is not. It is a phenomenon of our time and of the economic forces and family structures which have developed among us. Parents are choosing the help of a quality childcare center to set their children on the path to educational accomplishment. Or they are choosing to seek the financial resources available in the world of employment and to channel some of their earnings into childcare as necessary to permit that employment. The question has become less commonly, "Shall we use the resource of childcare?" It is rather, "Which childcare provider shall we use?"

And who is to say that childcare is not, in many cases, a blessing to the child and to the family? Family life, we might easily agree, has been in a terrible decline across our nation. Out-of-wedlock births to younger mothers are now almost a norm. Fathers are abdicating their parental responsibilities with thoughtless frequency, never mind their responsibilities as husbands. Each of these factors can bring stress into the home life of the young child, and the stress can stand in the way of the loving care which is needed. It is not difficult, therefore, to imagine that a child's life can be significantly enhanced by daily placement in an environment focused upon his care and rearing.

Day care, preschool, extended care... each of these terms now has a recognized place in our lexicon when just a few generations ago they remained undefined. Whether they take the form of a single caregiver in her home or a staff of 30 or more in a large new building alongside the route to work, childcare providers are now commonplace. It remains only for us, the Church, to determine what this means for us as we seek God's will for our lives, our families, and for our role in His mission.