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Child Care & Early Education FAQ |
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What is the difference between child care and early education?
At the most extreme, "child care" refers to looking after children while parents are at work while "early education" refers to care that focuses on enhancing child development and preparing children for formal schooling. In practice, the distinction between the two is very blurry. Significant learning can take place in a "child care" center, while "early education" centers also provide care while parents are at work. For these reasons, it is best to refer to the two services simultaneously - as child care & early education (OECD).
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Why is is Child Care Becoming Increasingly important in All Countries?
Because of the increase in female employment, the rise in dual breadwinner households, and other deomogaphic changes occuring throughout the world.
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zFacts on the Official Poverty Line
The official poverty line is based on total family income before taxes and tranfers. It was first computed in 1963-1964 when the USDA designed food budgets for families under economic stress. Since its inception the poverty line has only been updated for annual inflation using the Consumer Price Index. Many researchers feel that the current official poverty line grossly under-estimates the number of families living in poverty.
A single parent household with one child under the age of 18 is living in poverty if the household yearly household income is less than $12,400. For a single parent with two children, the threshold is $14,494. For a two parent household with one child it is $14,480. For a two parent two child household it is $18,244.
According to the US Census Bureau 34.6 million Americans, 12.1% of the population, were below the poverty line in 2002. This is an increase of 1.7 million people from 32.1 million people, or 11.7%, in 2001 (see full US Census Report ).
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How does the cost of Early Child Education and Care (ECEC) in the US compare to other countries?
US parents pay on average 60% of child care costs, amounting to 18-25% of household income. This is the main reason why enrollment in ECEC is lower in the US than in other industrialized countries.
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What is Head Start?
Head Start is a federally financed program for three to five year-old children fromlow-income families, that intends to provide medical, nutritional and social benefits and, by pre-school enrichment activity, to enable them to learn more effectively once they reach school. The Program was created in 1965. Early Start is a similar program for children under the age of three.
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Why are more eligible children enrolled in Head Start than children eligible for other child care assistance?
60 percent of families eligible for Head Start receive Head Start. But only 2.25 million out of 15.7 million eligible for child care assistance actually receive it. This is roughly equal to 14%.
For the most part, families are eligible for Head Start if family income is below the official poverty line. Families must be very poor to qualify for Head Start. Families with higher levels of income can qualify for other types of child care assistance. However, with the exception of Head Start, child care services are run by state and local governments. With the recent state budget crises, states did not have enough money to give child care assistance to all those that were federally eligible. Therefore, they simply did not provide services or raised income eligibility to income levels higher than federal eligibility. However, people below the official poverty line were still eligible in all states (see PDF report for further details).
Click here for zFacts on the official poverty line: how is it defined, how many Americans are living in poverty.
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http://zfacts.com/p/714.html | 01/18/12 07:28 GMT
Modified: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 18:32:58 GMT
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