MOST IMPORTANTLY, DAY CARE IS A CHILDREN'S ISSUE. THOSE WHO WILL MAKE UP OUR SOCIETY IN THE COMING YEARS DESERVE MORE THAN CUSTODIAL CARE. IMPROVED STANDARDS FOR LICENSING OF FACILITIES AND INCREASED TRAINING OF DAY CAPE WORKERS WILL TRANSLATE TO BETTER QUALITY CARE FOR THE NATION'S YOUNG. WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PORTION OF THE CURRENT BILL WHICH IS BEING INTERPRETED BY SOME TO EXCLUDE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS FROM PARTICIPATION IN I THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON THIS CRUCIAL BILL TO SUPPORT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. ACT FOR BETTER CHILD CARE SERVICES OF 1987 TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1988 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CHILDREN, FAMILY, DRUGS AND ALCOHOLISM, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:25 a.m., in room SD-430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Christopher J. Dodd (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Dodd, Kennedy, and Harkin. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DODD Senator DODD. The Subcommittee on Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism will come to order. I would like to welcome everyone here this morning. I am pleased to hold our second hearing on S. 1885, the Act for Better Child Care Services. Since I first introduced the ABC bill seven months ago, the Congress has been literally swept off its feet by a national crescendo of support for Federal child care legislation. With over 100 bills now in the hopper, this is clearly an issue whose time has come. Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives alike, all recognize that child care is no longer a luxury, but a bottom-line necessity. We all recognize that American families need help balancing their family and workplace responsibilities, and that the Federal government has a strategic role to play in this effort. We are no longer debating whether or not child care legislation is necessary, but rather, what form that legislation should take. Just two weeks ago and I would draw your attention to the charts here at the dais of the Committee-the polling firm of Martilla and Kiley released one of the most comprehensive and detailed child care surveys ever conducted. In a statistically representative sample of 901 registered voters-both Democrats, Republicans and independents-86 percent surveyed feel that child care for working families is an important national issue. Seventy-four percent believe that good child care is hard to find, and 63 percent think demand exceeds supply. Almost three out of four polled believe the Government should help working parents with child care expenses. expen I was most impressed with the public's support for the comprehensive ABC legislation. Sixty percent favor the ABC bill, even when told it carries a $2.5 billion price tag. Sixty-four percent say (209) the Government should invest the $2.5 billion in ABC even when reminded of the Federal deficit problems. And an overwhelming three out of four believe the Federal Government should establish minimum health and safety standards for child care, as ABC would do. I believe these poll results reflect an emerging national consensus that a strategic investment is necessary in a comprehensive child care infrastructure for our Nation, an infrastructure which the Federal Government helps to create, but which is nurtured and expanded by the States, local governments, child care providers and parents. ABC is designed to provide the seed for this national partnership through a three-pronged approach. First, ABC would make child care more affordable by targeting three out of four dollars directly to low-income and working families for child care services. Second, ABC would make child care more available through a system of grants and loans, recruitment and training, and resource and referral networks, designed to help States broaden the number and variety of child care services. Finally, the ABC bill would increase the quality of care by establishing minimum Federal health and safety standards and by providing funds to the States for training, technical assistance, consumer education, and salaries for child care workers. Before calling our first panel of witnesses today, I would like to lay to rest three misperceptions which some have about this legislation. First, the claim has been made that the ABC bill would discriminate against mothers who stay at home, and that somehow this legislation would encourage more mothers to work than currently do. This argument is ridiculous on its face. No one disputes the fact that parents who can afford to stay at home can provide the best care for their children. This philosophy is the basic foundation of my parental leave legislation, I would add, which curiously enough is opposed by many of those who criticize the ABC on this point. The reality is that ABC or not ABC, women are in the work force out of economic necessity. Today, fewer than one in ten American families has the luxury of having a mother at home with the children while father is at work. More than one-half of all mothers with infants under the age of one now work outside the home. And by 1995, fully two-thirds of all preschool-age children will have mothers in the work force. The money these women earn is critical to their families survival. Two-thirds of all working women outside the home today are either the sole providers for their children or have husbands who earn less than $15,000 a year. The ABC bill does not discriminate against mothers who stay at home, but simply attempts to address the pressing reality of millions of children whose parents are already in the labor force to stay. Where ABC can make a difference is in making these parents' current child care options more affordable and better-quality as they struggle to create economic security for their families. ABC is also designed to expand parental choice and involvement in child care so that parents may "customize," if you will, their children's care to fit their families' particular needs. Parents would use ABC funds to pay for care in virtually any setting they wish, |
