Unit B - Blog 10

The welfare reform basically limited who was getting welfare and how much people would get. This impacted many people's lives including children. The women that previously had collected these funds while being unemployed now had to start working. Once they began working is when childcare became a big concern. These parents that previously had watched their own children while collecting government money now had to work to earn money, and then spend a majority of that money on childcare.

These women and parents had to find many ways to adapt and survive to this new, basically required, lifestyle. One strategy they used was kin care. Kin care is basically a type of childcare that is a temporary fix until better childcare is available or affordable. Many parents had to resort to having a relative or parent watch their children while they began working. Some of the issues with this was the child's development and the reliability of this type of care. After sustaining a job and qualifying for government assistance, many parents were placed on a waiting list for family day care centers. Once they finally got an open spot they would often have paperwork errors that would result in not being able to afford the care and often losing the childcare services. Again they would resort to kin care, or have to quit there job or lose their job. Other obstacles they would have to overcome that they previously didn't have to worry about was work benefits. Many of these new hard working women didn't receive sick days or health benefits. If they got sick they would have to miss work, and wouldn't be able to get it treated. If a parent wanted health insurance for their children, it was nearly impossible, especially after a majority of their money was now going to childcare. Eventually these parents would have to find ways for this new life style to work. Many of them would struggle the first few years, but eventually finding and adjusting to what needed to be done to get by in life. It usually wasn't very pleasant though. Many families lacked food, transportation, and insurance. Many of them would figure out that they had to find a way to work their schedule, find the type of childcare that would be best for their children, learn ways to receive government funding, and whatever else needed to become.

When analyzing work and childcare, it is extremely clear that they influence each other. If there are issues with work, then childcare really isn't possible. If a work schedule doesn't coincide with the childcare schedule, then the work isn't going to last, or vice versa. When childcare isn't affordable or feasible, then a parent has to sacrifice work to take care of their child. There are other things at stake was well. Many parents need to have trust in their childcare center. Often they have to switch from childcare to childcare just to find someone they can trust and that can develop their child. This can be very costly. Cost is the biggest impact on everything though. When the reform went into action, many parents lost what funded their childcare or had to start funding their own. Society's concern was for the children, not necessarily the parents who brought them into this situation, but it ultimately affected both.

Chaudry and many of the other materials we reviewed shared common themes. Most concerns were for the children. Many people focused on how they needed to develop and end this continuing cycle. Urban areas continue to be problematic areas. Both the book and the materials also show that it really isn't affordable for these families to afford everything that our society requires to be successful. That is the common view. It isn't possible for children to get proper development, be healthy, have insurance, eat right, etc. with our minimum wage being what it is. It is not fair to the children to not have proper childcare. They didn't chose to get put in that position. It is our society's responsibility to try and contribute through aide and programs to help the CHILDREN out. I did see some families that are dependent on this help though, and they expect a hand out from society. As I discussed several times throughout this blog, the health care and sick benefits for employees are also one of the most influential pieces of this whole cycle. Parents can have better stability, healthier children, and more money available for other needs if they offer more breaks in these areas. Overall, many of these issues are all systematic and somehow our society needs to figure out a way to break this continual cycle.

Unit B - Blog 9

All of the issues that poor women and parents face trickle down to their children. In several of the stories in Putting Children First, there are similar trends. Mothers having issues affording childcare, finding quality childcare, holding a job, having a quality job, healthcare, etc. All of these things not only affect the parent, but the children as well. One interesting fact in the article by the NCCP titled Who are America’s Poor Children? The Official Story, was that children are usually more poor early in their childhood as opposed to the later years. This is very clear with a lot of the families in Putting Children First. One mother Julia had many issues with finding a job, securing a job, and earning decent wages when she got to that level. Often she, and other parents, lost their jobs because of circumstances involving their children such as personal health, childcare, and their children’s health. Because they aren’t able to sustain jobs and gain solid work experience, they have a difficult time getting jobs that have higher salary and benefits.

Another part of the NCCP article that stuck out to me was the current cost of things. The article stated that 1/3 of people’s income in the 1950’s went towards food (Fass&Cauthen, pg1). It said that families currently spend more on transportation, housing, and childcare, which is essentially taking the food off of the table for these families.

Some other interesting areas in the NCCP statistics were the stats relating to minorities and immigrants. Many of the parents from Putting Children First lived in big cities and urban areas. Many of the statistics from this article illustrate that these areas have the biggest issues with poverty. One thing specifically that caught my eye was the statistics in New Jersey. Overall, Jersey is under ten percent for child poverty, however, their minority poverty levels were still high. Approximately twenty percent of Latino and African American children were below poverty. The low for white poverty was four percent. These facts clearly demonstrate that there is certainly a difference when it comes to the two. Part of the reason for his is the diversity in urban areas, and as both the book and the article point out, urban areas have a lot more struggles with jobs and childcare.

The last area I would like to relate between the article and book, and the parents affect on their children relating to poverty is the solutions suggested at the end of the NCCP article. The solutions were to give tax credits to these struggling parents, raise minimum wage, and offer more benefits such as health care and sick days for parents and children. These were all issues that affected the parents in the book with childcare and employment. Raising minimum wage was also a popular solution recommended in the youtube videos. I definitely agree with offer more health care benefits and sick days. I think the sick days would really help out with some of these parents holding jobs for longer, and the healthcare would help prevent these parents from burring themselves in debt. My only concern with minimum wage going up is the prices in everything else going up. As we have seen recently in Arizona, when minimum wage went up a few years ago so did things such as milk and food, bus passes, and clothing. The last area of solutions that the article suggested was for children to have better early learning experiences so they don’t get stuck in the same positions their parents did. This to me is the best solution, which is also affected by the others as well. Many of these children didn’t have the choice to be born in these situations and often have to defy the odds to get out. A lot of the issues with childcare have a negative effect on their development and early education. This is also influenced by the lack of jobs or salaries which limits the parents’ options on childcare and they always don’t receive the best quality.

All of the big concerns and issues seem to be a popular trend between the book and the article. As we continue to research these things, we continue to see that they are all related and influence each element.

Unit B - Blog 8

Many different problems occur for working mothers in urban poverty, especially when you compare them to poor mothers living in mixed income areas. The first problematic area would obviously be with the environment they are surrounded by. There is crime and safety issues all of over urban areas. In fact, in the youtube.com video 7 Days at Minimum Wage, one mother talks about her concerns with letting her children outside of their home because she is concerned they will “get shot or killed.” They have to worry about that, as well as the working environment. Many urban areas don’t offer as many job opportunities, especially for the less skilled. Our society’s structures work in a way to keep the poor oppressed. Several mothers in Putting Children First talk about how they are essentially forced to stay in the neighborhoods they were raised in because they have to use their friends and family as home-based child care, because they cannot afford it. On top of that, they have to start working at a young age to be able to assist with their families or provide themselves with necessities. Due to them being in the workforce early, they do not have many opportunities to increase their education, and often cannot afford. Obviously their families aren’t able to afford it either. I would like to go back to the problems with childcare though. As we several times in Putting Children First, many of these parents have a difficult time working and paying for childcare. They often lose their jobs because they have to tend to their children. When they do get jobs they lose their childcare benefits. And as we saw in the book with Julia, her paperwork was often lost or she was put on waiting lists for certain types of childcare. In urban areas it is likely easier to have paperwork get lost and waiting lists as there are mass amounts of people that are all going through the same thing. The next problematic area with child care in urban areas is also the quality of care that is actually given. The old saying is, “you get what you pay for.” Many of these parents rely on relatives who are available because they themselves don’t work and aren’t very responsible. These are the individuals that are supposed to be developing these children? Or the child will be put into family day care centers or networks. Some of the family day care networks have up to 200 children. How can a child truly be developed properly without getting the full amount of attention needed? These are all questions that urban mothers have to deal with. Often these mothers are single too. Also a popular trend throughout the videos and book was the father being incarcerated. This goes back to the crime issue. Some of these challenges are like not as difficult in mixed income neighborhoods. Many patrons of the urban neighborhood depend on the little bit of extra cash they receive for “helping out” and conducting home-based child care when the parent is in a bind. In a mixed income neighborhood it is likely easier to find someone that isn’t as dependent on the money, and it isn’t just money driven child care. Poor mothers in mixed income neighborhoods likely don’t have to worry about paperwork getting mixed up or waiting lists either. And last, they probably have more job opportunities available to them.

Unit B - Blog 7

Many factors played a role for Jacqueline and Julia when it came to childcare in the book Putting Children First. Soon after Julia had her first child, her family moved to their first permanent residence. Julia’s first type of childcare that she used was father care, which is a type of home-based care. The father, while he was still around, watched Jacqueline while Julia was attending community college to give her better career opportunities down the road. Not long after having her first residence, Julia and the father broke up and the father was incarcerated. Once she no longer had the option of having father care she still used home-based childcare and had her sister take care of her child while she attended school and began internships. This arrangement lasted briefly as it began to conflict with Julia’s sister’s work schedule. At this point Julia got on the waiting list for subsidized child care and provided primary care to her daughter for a short period of time until she was accepted to the work experience program that provided child care benefits for her. With these benefits she was able to place Jacqueline and her sister in a family day care center. Due to late payments by the welfare Julia was forced out of that family day care after a short stint. Julia next resorted to home-based care through her cousin, who she knew would be more accepting to payment errors from the welfare system, but again, there were paperwork problems and her cousin would no longer watch them for free. Julia next resorted to a family day care center with a woman named Sonia. She was pleased with the environment Jacqueline was in at this center and liked the development her child was receiving at that center. Her next obstacle came when she started getting better work opportunities. These opportunities affected her schedule and she reached out to Sonia to extend the child care for longer than the center was scheduled to. Sonia had to pay extra for this service, as well as pay her cousin to watch her other daughter. The next dilemma arose when she had to be reviewed for the ACD family child care program. She now showed wages being earned and would have to make co-payments on the child care on top of the extra that she had to pay to enable her to work. Shortly after that she lost other benefits like food stamps. When this took place she had to leave Sonia’s family day care and go back to home-based care in which her mother would watch Jacqueline.

There are several issues that Julia had to face. One of the major problems she has was with the benefit programs not making payments and having paperwork errors. This resulted in her having to switch child care centers, and the types of child care she would use. Another issue was the instability with having to leave her with family members. From many of the books and videos it very apparent that most home-based care by family members are of a “quick fix” nature. It is often a temporary solution to figuring out how to afford a different type. Also, the friends or family members may not be as dedicated to what is best for the child or may not be physically suitable to take proper care of the child. The last issue that came about for Julia was when she finally was able to get decent work. Her jobs would have scheduling conflicts with a lot of the child care options that were available. Then on top of that, the benefit programs essentially punish these mothers or parents when they are able to find steady work and start getting on their feet by reducing the benefits that were previously available to them.

Unit B - Blog 6

There are many types of child care available to parents, but each one has there pros and cons.
Home-based care is very common, but not always available. It consists of family, close friends, neighbors, and nannies. Home based care is informal and isn’t always available due to the availability of family members and friends, and sometimes is affected by trust issues. It can also be unaffordable if the individual opts to have a nanny. This type of care is usually in the child’s own home or the home of the relative or friend.

Family day care is another option for families. These types of day cares include licensed and unlicensed, and also have network and group day care centers available. Many parents prefer this type for several reasons. The licensed centers are usually more trusted because they in fact are licensed. Family day care centers can also be regulated by government, which makes it a little more trust worthy as well. Some family day care centers have three to six children, others can have eight to twelve, and even some have twenty to two hundred. The eight to twelve is considered a family day care group, and the larger groups are called family day care networks. The family day care center is preferred as there are fewer children making it more beneficial. The networks are often the least preferred because of the amount of children.

Center-based care is another type of child care. This type of care includes day care, nursery programs, preschool, and prekindergarten. This care is usually in schools, churches, non-profit organizations and private companies. These are often preferred because of the type of development the child will receive.
Parental care arrangements are another type. Parental care is the care of the mother and/or father. It is called a subtotal parental care arrangement when the parents rotate in taking care of the child. This is also when a parent will stay home while the other one is working. This is ideal for many parents, but can result in one source of income, or less time together as an entire family.
Other care arrangements are also available. Some of these options are care available after schools and care centers provided by employers.

Many parents use multiple types of care centers at time, or different ones throughout time. Many of the individuals in the Putting Children First use more than one of these at a time. Others have switched frequently due to specific circumstances. It is called multiple care arrangements when they use more than one at a time. For example, this can be using family day care centers during the week and home-based care on the weekends. The parents that have switched often have to use what is called bridge care. This is when parents are between primary care centers and have to find a temporary solution until they can find a new primary care. In chapter 2 of Putting Children First, one mother had to use bridge care multiple times. While she was being trained to learn a trade she had to resort to home-based care multiple times as she could not afford family day care or center-based programs weren’t available. Other times the father took care of the child while she was working and she used a parental care arrangement.

Many parents would prefer home-based care centers for many reasons. They are affordable, convenient and trust worthy. This, however, isn’t always available or feasible for some families. I think the thing that influences the type of day care the most is the cost. Many parents spend more money on child care than they do on rent. The cost is usually what dictates the type of child care used. Parents sometimes used home-based care as a temporary solution though. When using kin care, it isn't always the preferable use of child care, but sometimes is the only option. I would like to note that many parents that have to settle with cheaper care often run into issues with trust and concerns for lack of development, which results in frequent change. Many of the government policies have also been reformed which has hurt the type of day care available to low income families. There are many forms of day care out there and parents often have many dilemmas in finding which one best suites them financially, their children’s development, the convenience, and how trust worthy the provider really is.

Unit B - Blog 5

When Chaudry states “we are asking the least fortunate to strive and work harder, we are deeply discounting our public responsibility for the children born into poor families and disadvantaged communities,” she is essentially saying our society’s structure is set up in a way that it hurts the children in the long run. The way our government reformed some of its structure and policy to encourage a work based society, it didn’t take into consideration the impact it would have on the children. When the policies were reformed, many low income families lost a lot of their financial resources and were forced to work. Chaudry acknowledges that there were able adults that could have been working, but basically abused the policies to get free income. However, she really emphasizes the other end of the scope, the individuals that the previous policies were in place for. The families that couldn’t afford childcare while the parent was working and the ones that needed that extra income to provide for their children. The new policies push for these parents to work, or still work, but don’t give them the extra income they need to provide food, shelter and health care. In the youtube video Working With a Hole in Your Pocket they talk about the poverty line, which is $20,614, and that anyone that makes a dollar more than that is not considered to be poor by the government. This means that they will not qualify for any type of welfare or other benefits. Families in poverty no longer get that little extra that use to make a big difference. Back to Chaudry’s argument, this is significantly affecting the children born into poverty. The children are receiving awful childcare, don’t have the food, clothing shelter and other necessities that they would have under previous policies. Other videos indicated that this is a social problem and not an individual. Our society sometimes traps people into poverty. Many people that are able to get out of the poverty level had to accrue debt to make it out. This debt is nearly impossible to get out of. Our society also places restraints on the poor. The jobs they can get don’t offer healthcare. Their transportation required maintenance. If they can’t afford to maintain their transportation, they won’t make it to work. Some people need that extra little boost from programs to get them over the hump, to allow them to have childcare, to maintain an automobile. If our society can’t give that little push, these individuals will be stuck and it will result in the poor upbringing of children, homelessness, and the future of our society not even having a chance.