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Author
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Topic: Daycare Solutions.
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outlandist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10253
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posted 02 October 2005 01:05 PM
Given the need to increase productivity to maintain standards of living and to compete nationally in the 21st century,what are the optimum solutions for child care,infant to preschool?By increasing productivity and competing,I refer to an educated workforce able to compete in a globalised environment,not personal increases to retain employment.By changing the structure of society how can the nation address childcare to improve productivity,standard of living and quality of life? Increase child tax credits?
Increase personal exemption on income tax?
Start school sooner?
Daycare in the workplace?
Working from the home?
Flexhours?
Tax funded daycare
Subsidised needs based daycare?
From: ontario | Registered: Aug 2005
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kuri
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4202
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posted 03 October 2005 10:17 AM
Kindergarten has become more about hard learning and less about play in the past 10 years or so. I come from a family of teachers and my mother is responsible for kindergarten readiness and it requires much more than it used to. Most kids don't have the maturity at age 4 or 5 to sit still and start learning to read and write and I tend to think that it's better to give them an environment that's more play based, but it is possible to repeat kindergarten. In fact it's usually better to repeat kindergarten (where there isn't much of a stigma about repeated - amongst the kids anyway) than to be thrown into Grade One before they're ready. A number of parents object to this though. quote:
I realy don't like little kids in care for too long, when their parents arn't seeing much of them, and the children cry and sob when they are dropped off every morning.
If the care is good, they will only do this the first couple of times. Even at kindergarten age, it's not uncommon to see children being afraid of the teachers at first and then sobbing because they have to leave their teacher at the end of the school year. As for the OP, the problem with child care from a productivity standpoint isn't only with the existence of children. A lot of it comes from the attitudes of employers that make it difficult for parents to return to the workforce after taking time out to raise children. I think more parents (and I believe this option should be available to both fathers and mothers who choose it) would take time out to raise their small children if they could be certain that there will be opportunities to re-enter the workforce afterwards.
From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003
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outlandist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10253
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posted 03 October 2005 01:00 PM
In Europe,larger industries have sports and social facilities as a part of the company.Given that valuable employees are difficult to replace,would it be beneficial for both employer and employee for employers to provide on site child care where parents could interact with children during the work day? I listened to a CBC radio program which featured several women who worked from the home.One was a senior IBM manager and another a telemarketer.Technology has advanced to provide the tools for some employees to work from the home. From the parent's point of view,the ability to interact with children during their work day is beneficial to them. From the employer's point of view,productivity would increase because a valued employee is still available and focussed on their duties,secure that their child is close at hand. Standard of living,quality of life and productivity are under threat from a rapidly changing world where globalisation can quickly render an economy redundant. Canada needs to invest in children.If subsidised or universal childcare is provided,innovative solutions are needed.
From: ontario | Registered: Aug 2005
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Fed
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8926
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posted 04 October 2005 12:48 PM
Perhaps we also need to look at it from the work-end of things as well as the child end of things.I've been reading a bit about micro-enterprises. These are extremely small businesses that can be run from home. In the case of lower income families, it is sometimes too much of a bite out of the family income to have one parent forgo all income generating opportunities to be with the kidlets. Such micro-enterprises help to mitigate the financial impact of a stay-at-home parent. However, there are barriers to entry that could be lowered or eliminated. e.g. One fellow I know has been agitating to change the laws related to hair dressing in Oklahoma---apparently you have to take a course a few weeks long in the proper handling of chemicals related to dying and perming before you get a hairdressing license. But if you are not going to offer perms and dying, just hair cuts, you still have to take the course. He argues that this causes a barrier to poor people who want to set up a micro-business of offering just hair cuts. They won't be offering perm & dye services, so why should they have to pay to take the chemical handling course. Another example would be micro-credit. Let's say you know how to sew thanks to a high school home-ec course. You want to be able to offer trouser hemming and alterations from home. But you need a layout table and a sewing machine and you don't have $1000 for it. No bank is going to lend you that small an amount of money if you have no credit rating. Where do you go? How about a community-based micro-credit agency? Yet another would be zoning laws as a deterrent to micro-businesses. Sure you don't want really high volumes of traffic in residential neighbourhoods, but zoning laws could be tweaked to allow some home-based businesses.
From: http://babblestrike.lbprojects.com/ | Registered: Apr 2005
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outlandist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10253
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posted 04 October 2005 01:37 PM
Excellent ideas on home based businesses that are labour intensive,sewing,haircuts etc.Theses services are expensive for a larger business to provide but fit well with a home based business in a child rearing situation.As well,it allows the parent a creative interaction with others as a break from the children. It would also increase self esteem to be a contributor other than as a parent.I'm really walking the plank here but would this not also address post partum depression for the parent to focus on something other than the child in an environment where they still have supervision? Although tax credits may be beneficial,how can it be structured to provide the benefit as child specific?
From: ontario | Registered: Aug 2005
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Fed
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8926
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posted 04 October 2005 03:50 PM
outlandist wrote: quote:
I'm really walking the plank here but would this not also address post partum depression for the parent to focus on something other than the child in an environment where they still have supervision?
Could indeed be for some, but PPD is only partially caused by such outside factors. Believe it is mostly caused by otherwise hormone fluctuations post-partum that go off the rails somehow. Nevertheless, not a bad suggestion. My own Mother really felt isolated staying at home with me and my bro when we were kidlets. Wasn't exactly PPD, but was some form of what you are talking about.
From: http://babblestrike.lbprojects.com/ | Registered: Apr 2005
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