Treacy: I am going to take a position that is going to get me flacked on this but someone should try and step up to reality. Having grown up as the oldest of eight children in a poor family, I must say that a lot of what I see going on these days in child care problems stems from very poor choices by parents for things! As a kid I felt deprived because our clothes were always handmedowns, our Christmas presents were always second hand books, we got taken to the free Bronx Park Zoo rather than go to the movies which cost money, etc. My mother was always at home. We were always watched over, chided, whacked, fed but never neglected. Pop worked his ass off. Sometimes two or three jobs at once. No days off. No vacations. No trips to Disney land. All of us turned out pretty well. The American dream worked. I now see people buying into the consumer culture saying both parents need to work so junior can get air jordens. The best care is that provided by parents who play the do it your self game. [EMAIL PROTECTED] COPYRIGHTED On Thu, 19 Jan 1995, Peter.Dorman wrote: > Steve Hecker raises an important point about daycare: the cost of providing a > true living wage to daycare workers and getting high quality care for the kids > is more than most parents can pay. Here is a suggestion off the top of my > head; tell me if there is anything to it.... > > The problem with the cost of daycare is like the problem with the cost of > health care; they are both sporadic--intense at some times, nonexistent at > others. Over a life cycle they can be afforded (given a reasonable > distribution of income), but it is difficult to come up with all the money at > once. For health care everyone recognizes that insurance is needed, not only > to pool risks across the population, but to spread payment over the life > cycle. Isn't there a need for a corresponding mechanism for smoothing out > childcare payments as well? In other words, isn't the case for public support > for daycare not simply one of income redistribution, but also one of expense > smoothing? The policy remains the same--public financing--but is it a little > easier to explain as a life cycle mechanism? > > Peter Dorman >
