How valuable is childcare?
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How valuable is childcare?
| Fri, 08-21-2009 - 6:01am |
I'm mostly a lurker, but I have a question that I wanted to know opinions on.
Is there value to child care?
I'm talking about the day-to-day, hour-by-hour
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And the difficult thing about puberty is knowing when it's actually beginning! All that hormonal stuff starts to take place long before the outward signs appear. I remember when my dd was 8, she'd go through these days of crying jags and
You are absolutely right, emotional investment in your children is very important throughout thier lives (I honestly would be lost without the investment of my mom today and I'm over 30!)
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I think it's because almost anyone can do the functions of caretaking, and we automatically devalue occupations that do not require exclusive skills. Unfortunately, when it comes to childcare, the activity itself is extremely valuable but many will not view it that way because it does not set them apart from others. In fact, if you listen to many of the debates here, at some point or another you will always hear someone say "So what? I do that, too." This comes from both SAHMs and WOHMs. We're so alike it drives us crazy, and we deal with it by projecting feelings of self-superiority onto others.
"As a side note, I don't think that my original post and question were that clear. I was really asking whether people saw the ACT of childcare as valuable or not, not the service of daycare. The reason I asked that was that it seems like IRL no one feels that way. A SAHM in many cases is seen as "wasting her education" while a DCP is a low paying low prestige job few want. I wanted to know why that was."
For the same reason that my job isn't valued but a plumber's or car mechanic's is. After all, anyone can sew but few can fix the pipes or a car. Same for dc. A dc provider provides a similar service that parents do. As long as it's perceived that way, they won't get the prestige that the job warrants. And then economics has to factored in there. A good provider must charge enough to make a living, attract qualified employees, and cover overhead but keep the cost down to where parents can afford it. It can be a Catch 22.
Chris
The truth may be out there but lies are in your head. Terry Pratchett
Just because one particular time period might be more important than others doesn't mean that the other time periods are in any way unimportant.
ITA.
I think that DS's time with his childminder is valuable to his development. He is exposed to children of a variety of ages in a close environment, and she takes them on outings that would frankly not occur to me, lol! Eg last month they went on a steam train ride some distance from here. I didn't even know there was a steam train!
Every adult in my child's life contributes something important to his upbringing. My childminder is certainly no exception.
We also devalue teaching. It's arguably one of the most important jobs in our society, but teachers aren't paid as much or respected as much as they should be, IMO.
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