In contemporary American society, there are many social issues that continue to dominate various discourses in the United States of America. One of the subjects is the topic of child care. Essentially, in this aspect, there is the issue of the policy that guides the whole matter. However, the policy is a multifaceted idea that can take various considerations for better insight. Thus, it can be argued that the child care policy in the US can be looked at in many perspectives for it is multifaceted
First, there is the child care problems for low–income parents in the United States, with regards to availability, affordability, and quality. In terms of availability , the available number of child care slots are usually inadequate, especially for low income ( Ross & Holmes, 2018 ). However, for the ones that are available, those with low income often find it hard to pay for the services. Also, the quality of services offered in cheap facilities is usually low.
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Secondly, issues of co-pays and cliffs with regards to child care subsidies are inherent in the understanding of the subject matter can include in the discourse. For co-pay, this where parents share the cost of taking care of their children. The strategy is important since it subsidizes the overall cost of the service for all the individuals. For cliffs, there is the understanding that there is a general increase in the amount of money paid for child care as a parent's income increase ( Minton & Durham, 2013 ). Consequently, low-income parents may pay lowly; thus, the benefit from the program, which is defined as a low cliff. However, when they continue to earn more, they continue to pay more until there have the feeling that they are not benefiting from the service, which is called high cliff.
However, there are some universal childcare/early childhood education programs might solve some of these problems. The first example of there is public preschools schemes that help low-income students or those from low performing areas. Besides, there is the child care and development fund program that can be used to address the problem. For example, through it, there is of subsidy to children from economically-deprived families in the child care facilities.
Third, there are points that can explain why the United States is one of the only developed countries that does not have universal early childhood programs . Also, the US lacks collective positive effects in its healthcare for all. At the same time, the nation is seen as deficient in ensuring that there is the value of fairness in criminal justice within the individualistic and collective terms ( Adams, Spaulding, & Heller, 2015 ). Lastly, the country appears to have failed in the enhancement of income in adulthood collectively. Instead, the system appears to operate in such ways that promote the individualistic increase in income.
Lastly, it can be looked at in the perspective of forms of policy changes that should be advocated for better child care in the USA. The first one is a universal provision of childcare. In this case, it should be provided in such ways that will guarantee access to affordable quality healthcare to children of all backgrounds. The second program would be the policy of partnership among different stakeholders in the childcare programs. Some of them will be parents, employers, caregivers, and different government agencies. Innately, the policy will help expand the services to all.
To conclude, it can be argued that the child care policy in the US can be looked at in many contexts for it is many-sided. First, there are issues of low-income parents in relation to the availability, affordability, and quality of child care. Secondly, issues of co-pays and cliffs that can be used to explain subsidy in the discussion. Also, it relates to ways in which some programs can help deal with the issues. Besides, the reasons for the US lagging behind other developed countries in child care can be explored. Finally, there are proposed policies for enhanced childcare. In sum, the practices give more insight into the child care policy.
References
Adams, G., Spaulding, S., & Heller, C. (2015). Bridging the Gap Exploring the Intersection of Workforce Development and Child Care . Retrieved from Urban Institute website: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000225-Bridging-the-Gap.pdf
Minton, S., & Durham, C. (2013). Low-Income Families and the Cost of Child Care State Child Care Subsidies, Out-of-Pocket Expenses, and the Cliff Effect . Retrieved from Urban Institute website: http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/24321/412982-Low-Income-Families-and-the-Cost-of-Child-Car
Ross, M., & Holmes, N. (2018, May 7). Meet the Out-of-work. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/meet-the-out-of-work/
