Blog # 6

Chaundry explains that there are several types of child care used by low-income mothers. There is home-based care or individualized child care, which includes kin care, informal care by neighbors or strangers, and father care. The next type of care is family child care, or daycare, in a licensed care givers home. Mothers also use center care, including Head Start programs, Pre-K and preschool programs, and group daycare. Finally, some mothers used specialized care or special needs care. Most mothers used kin care as the primary care arrangement for their children when they were infants even though it was not always preferred. Harriett used kin care for her son because she thought it was important to “establish an ongoing relationship across generations and preserved a family’s identity” (p. 43). Like many mothers, she also chose kin care because she believed that babies need to be in the care of a loving family member, whom she trusted, and she can be sure her child will not be neglected. In many cases though, kin care was not the ideal care arrangement for the mothers because it was often inconsistent and the mothers thought the children should be in a more structured environment and be exposed to other children. Kin care was less expensive than formal care settings, making it the only option available for mothers just starting out. Many mothers chose family day care because, as Annette explains, it is more structured and more educational for children. Not all family day care is structured and educational, sometimes it was more like babysitting and the mothers worried about what went on while they were working. Center care provides the socializing and learning skills for children as they get older. Many mothers prefer to have their children in center care by ages two or three to get them ready for school. Mothers, like Dona, noticed developmental improvements when their children entered center care. Most mothers were unable to get their child into a center as early as they would have liked. The centers were full with long waiting lists, forcing mothers to make other arrangements while waiting for an opening. A lot of the children in the study had developmental issues, the most common was speech delay. The mothers of children with speech delay encountered many obstacles before getting their child into a special needs program. Mothers are often forced to choose less desirable arrangements either because of systematic issues, monetary issues, and most common, availability.