Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/creating-f/5011307/
The needs of what David Elkind (1994) calls the "postmodern" or "permeable" family of the 1990's require us to rethink many of our child care center policies for their family-friendliness. The social and economic context in which families are planning for the care of their children is quite different from the forecast that they would have greater leisure time, a dream which has simply not materialized for Americans. Most parents are working more than the once-expected 40 hours a week; Juliet Schor calculates that, including on-the-job and household work, "the total working time of employed mothers now averages about 65 hours a week" (1992, p. 21).Contrary to some presidential electoral rhetoric, corporate and government downsizing continues. "The first three months of 1996 saw 169,000 layoffs, the most of any quarter for two years" (Economist, 1996, p. 51), causing direct change for some families and indirect worry for those who remain employed.
Those parents who have been "laid-off," "downsized," "out-placed," or "delayered" unexpectedly and temporarily need and can afford less child care than they have in the past or hope to need in the near but unpredictable future. As they juggle part-time work and interviews in distant cities in the interim, their child ...