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.