Childcare: What is it Worth?
The care babies get has dramatic and long-term effects on how they develop and learn, how they react to the world around them, and how they cope with stress as children and adults.
Science tells us holding, cuddling, and talking in the early years actually affect how a child’s brain grows. Loving and supportive care predisposes the brain to handle stress and control emotions. Reading and singing with children every day helps brain development too.
Studies have found that children participating in quality childcare programs have enhanced language, math, and social skills; are held back in school less frequently; and have a reduced need for costly intervention. In fact, a child’s early environment has an enormous impact on who and what the child will become as an adult.
And who and what children become as adults not only affects their productivity and their interpersonal relationships, it defines the very nature of our society. Therefore, the quality of childcare matters when parents have to leave their children to go to work. But the implication in our society is that childcare is subsidiary to working. In fact, raising our children is our most important job. Unfortunately, because raising our children “earns” little or no money, it is not given its true value. Nor are childcare workers paid their true due.
We claim that children are invaluable and that the future is in the hands of our children. But do we, in fact, put our money where our children are?
We should.
We must ensure that every family has quality, affordable care available to it, and we must pay caregivers enough to attract quality personnel. That would reflect that we truly value our children.