UNIT  II:   DAY CARE SERVICES

Definition

According to current federal government literature, day care services are provided...

"... as one of the necessary support services to promote and strengthen family well-being. Modern technology and urbanization have introduced many dislocations in family life and have mandated changing family life styles .¹

The literature goes on to say that ...

"... we now expect a family to achieve what no other society has ever expected an individual family to accomplish unaided. In effect we call upon the individual family to do what a whole clan used to do."

Day care services are defined as services to the family to assist and support the child-rearing function and to allow the mother to work to support the family financially; and as services to children to protect them from abuse, neglect and the ignorance of parents.

Day care services are generally described as (a) group care services, or those provided to groups of children, in similar age groupings and specially equipped facilities; and (b) family care services, or those provided within a family home to no more than 5 unrelated children of varying ages.

In terms of costs to the service provider, group care services are more expensive than family care services; and public group services are more expensive than private group services. In terms of costs to the family, family care services provided within the mother's home are the most expensive; family care services provided within the home of the sitter are the least expensive; and group care services occupy a middle range. The cost to families of group services varies according to family income and expenses, and the availability of full or partial subsidies. or subsidized spaces in various facilities.

^1. Health and Welfare Canada, National Day Care Information Centre, Status of day care in Canada: 1973, (Ottawa: Health and Welfare Canada, 1973), p.2

^2. Quote by Margaret Mead, cited in R. Burshtyn (ed.), Day care: A resource for the contemporary family, (Ottawa: the Vanier Institute of the Family, 1969), p. 2.