Why do so many Americans think day care is acceptable?

Question

The norm in America seems to be for both parents to work and for the young baby to be put in a daycare center. The daycare centers tend to me crowded, small, too expensive, and have uneducated and underpaid employees. Why is this acceptable to most American mothers?

Answer 1

I'm sure most parents would rather stay home and watch the baby....but the reality is that many people can't afford to live in a househould with only one income. So both parents work and when there is no one else to watch the child, day care is the only solution.

Its not just America that uses day care....many countries do.

Answer 2

It's not that most American mothers find it acceptable, it's that they have no choice! Starvation and homelessness don't count as viable choices.

In the USA, it costs $1200 a month to provide a family of two with shelter, food, clothing, utilities, communication and transportation. And that's at the very cheapest. Add a baby into that and the family's expenses go up to about $2000 a month. Most jobs only pay people $1000 a month if they're lucky. Both mother and father have to work to provide themselves and their child with the basic necessities.

American mothers know that daycare isn't the best way to go. Most of them want to stay home and care for their children. But they know that if they do, the children will be taken away by child services because they won't have a place to live.

Don't blame American mothers for this sorry state of affairs; blame a bad economy and high cost of living. Blame cheap employers who cut employee benefits and send jobs overseas. Just because American mothers are forced to work and put their babies in substandard care does not mean that they find it acceptable in any way.

Answer 3

Because with the cost of living they can't afford to stay home. Even with the high price of daycare they still come out better if both parents work. Things are spread out in most states so you need to have a car so that is a car note, insurance, then mortage or rent, food especially if you want to eat healthy is expensive then just buying baby things. Two parents working is the norm and necessary these days. Also the way our retirement system is set up if the wife stays home she will not be paying into Social secuirty and medicare so when she gets old she won't have enough to take care of her needs.

Answer 4

its not an issue if its acceptable or not. this is a way of living for us now,its a necessity. we all wish both parents would be able to stay home and enjoy our kids while they are growing up. but this is impossible,unfortunatley most of us are middle class we both need to work in order to provide food, college, clothing etc. etc. , also a lot of us are single parents, a lot of us girls are not taking it from the man anymore and staying in a relationship just cause the women needs to stay home with the kids. that is why this is america the place of the free,where we both have the same rights and responsibilities, where everybody chooses there way of life the way they feel like it. we love our kids and want them to socialize with other kids at the same time so they can get use to being a people person. we gotta adjust to out lives and if not being at home is not an option for most of us there is daycare centers. maybe like you say they are some uneducated people taking care of our kids, but honestly what we as parents are looking for is a place where our kids are treated nice, with respect and attention. educated people is what you want once they enter the real schools not daycare. as i was saying we love our kids, accepting this way of life does not mean we are not good parents.

Answer 5

Do you think all mother's dump their kids off at daycare to get their nails done and eat chocolates all day? We have to work and in America, 2 incomes are needed to make it here. It's not acceptable, it's reality and some of us don't have a husband or a wife that make enough in order to keep us home or a grandparent to help out.

Answer 6

Children who are in a GOOD daycare center learn social skills (how to share, how to communicate, how get along with others) MUCH faster than kids that stay at home or with Grandma during the day.

Answer 7

I do agree that I dont like daycares BUT I also agree that in most cases BOTH parents HAVE to work. If your lucky enough to stay at home, then bless you! I wish I were that lucky!
I have my son in a home daycare setting. More just a "babysitter". She only watches him and her own children. Its cheaper and better for him, in my opinion. He gets alot of one on one attention, which I dont beleive he would get in a normal daycare.
I DID research the daycares in my area and there was NO WAY I was putting my son in those. It actually took more research to find a reliable, trusting, "mother" to watch my son.
All in all, I guess I agree to disagree in a sense.

Answer 8

I agree with the other answerers. Sometimes both parents need to work. Responsible mothers do not HAVE TO stay home, but if they choose a daycare option, they are responsible for making sure the facility is not like the one you described.

Answer 9

In the old days, Duties were divided, but were equally important. It was easier for one to hunt and gather,(Males)
and the other to nourish and keep the nest(females)
It was important that the children were trained, loved and properly guided. It was part of the circle of life. Now we have been fed the load of goods that our station in life takes two salaries. That the cost of the house is more important than
the people who live in it. And the cost of the car we drive is
more important than the number of hours we spend in it, trying to pay for it. The kids are running amok. Every one is
tired, run down, and stressed out. Day Care Is unacceptable.
You cannot pay someone to love your child. You Are So Right, but it will not be a popular opinion. A Rut is a Rut.

Answer 10

First, let's look at the real problem - namely the fact that it takes 2 incomes to put a roof over head and food on the table where only a generation ago it took only 1 income.

Look at the average working woman - chances are really high that she isn't zipping off to Paris every spring to view Chanel's newest line of clothes. Chances are she makes 79 cents to the man's dollar, has maxed out her opportunities and is still sent out for coffee.

Of course, we're not looking at working SINGLE mothers - who would rather their children see her as a provider than a parasite.

BUT - if she IS fortunate enough to have a partner/husband who can provide enough to let her stay at home - she is forced out of the intellectual world and into one of unpaid servitude - a position that carries no retirement or social status other than that of "broodmare."

No. Daycare isn't as good as a stay-at-home mom - but until we as a nation and culture start to actually VALUE our domestic partners etc. then our only alternative is daycare.