__Family

SOC402: Contemporary Social Problems & the Workplace Instructor: Dana Rock Week Five Assignment Khadra Temmis Family, and childcare issues, for single head of households.               Family is A group united by blood, marriage, and or adoption in order to satisfy intimacy needs or bear and socialize children”  “The family is thus a crucial factor in both individual well being and social life”.”  (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12). (P g. 348) traditional family is made up of father, mother, one or more children typically the mother stays home and the father works. Since world war two women have been growing in the workforce. “Over the past several decades, women have entered the workforce in record numbers. In the 1940s, less than one in five women with children worked outside the home. By 1998, 65 percent of women with children under the age of six were in the labor force. The percentage was even higher among women with children between the ages of six and 17 - 78 percent. Today, over half (55 percent) of these women provide most, if not all, of their family’s income”. (http://www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/childcare.shtml) By Michele Friedman, Coalition on Human Needs   As women entered the works place the need for child care grew from the occasional date night to eight to five and before and after school care. Now families had to plan for child care for their young ones unlike in the time of World War II where the neighbor cared for the kids or the grandparent. Because most of the fathers were off to war or did not come home from the battle field. The family started changing in the 60 and 1970 were divorce became more common and single mothers needed to provide for their children. A single parent home is headed usually by women every now and then we see single fathers which are very rare. Though now we see more single fathers who also have to deal with the issues that come with child care and even for the men since it’s very rare have a harder time to access these programs. Men lack the knowledge and also suffer from pride that might stop them from accessing theses programs. Most of the Government and social services programs were created for single women with child like Wic that are catering mostly to women. It is still not as common as single mother headed homes, and they too have to deal with issues that face them with child care. Some of the most important issues that face a single parent home are where to take the child the cost the mental and emotional health of the child and most importantly the child’s safety we also see what they will be learning while in day care. For the single parent the hardships might be the cost of the care the safety and the environment in which the child is being cared for. Most single parents who are employed work in low paying jobs and don’t have the means to pay for these single parents there are programs like the head start program and some grants but these programs require to be a certain age so still we see single parents struggling to keep employment while joggling their children care with friends low cost child care givers but the drawback to some of these alternatives we see cases where the care giver was either abusing the child physically or mentally, and emotionally. Though most in home and child care facilities are safe there is that chance of abuse. The most vulnerable kids are the kids that fall in the low income bracket and most of those children are of either African American or Hispanic groups in the Caucasian and Asian who are better educated and get paid more even when they are single parents. Have the opportunity to put their children in better monitored and regulated child care facilities. Which offer educational programs so the child will not only be cared for in a safe and nurturing environment but also a learning environment' The answer for single low income families is the government funded programs such as head start program. The problem with head start is the child has to be at least three and full potty trained. Head start does have some 0 to 5 years programs which usually fill very fast because of the limited space in the programs. The need for child care is greater than the availability of adequate low cost child care. Be that most start at three so for the single parent who needs child care for a child under the age of three or needs after hour care because their employment falls in the night shift. This group continuously struggle because of their low paying jobs that barley keeps food and shelter. Now if we add the cost of child care and the difficulty even grows more. Qualify for child care programs and grants can have hurdle like if you make just three dollars over the income cut off for your family size which can be extremely frustrating. AFDC is another program that offers child care assistance but once again you have to have next to nothing to qualify. Welfare to work programs usually put you to work in jobs that are low minimal paying jobs which put you in a cycle of poverty. “Because of low welfare payments and low wages in available jobs, the single mother maybe caught in a bind: Whether she works or stays at home and receives welfare, she may find herself and her family living in poverty”(Tilly and Abelda 1994)  (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12).  (pg. 361) Government Programs like head start are targeted for families with child care hardships and children not getting the early start in education that will give them a better future in preparing young minds for each level of schooling. The greatest hardship for single parent homes would have to be Safety. Another hardship would be the cost of child care. Health and educational programs would be next concern for the single parent when it comes to child care hardships or issues. Safety is the first thing that all parents not just single parent homes are concerned about the children crimes that are perpetuated against children is very high “In 2006, there 888.245 substantiated cases of maltreatment (including neglect, physical and sexual abuse, ad emotional maltreatment) ( US census Bureau 2009). Of that 18.1 percent involved infants a year old or younger and another 47 percent involved children between two and nine years of age”.  (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12).  (pg. 356) Another issue that faces the single parent home that is headed by a female is that they carry the biggest burden when caring for their children, in most cases without the father’s involvement or even with limited or next no financial assistance. .So the mother is still left with the worries of the child’s physical, mental, and emotional well being. With all of this on the shoulders of this single parent they tend to suffer from extra stress that might not be experienced by a two parent home where they share the hardships and burden of raising and caring for the child. The decision making alone for the single parent can be overwhelming when it comes to child care and the how to balance it all. The mother not the father in most cases losses work time for her children’s sick days’ school activities and afterschool activities. The single parent does not share these responsibilities with no one other person other than themselves. A single head of household Child care issues can be a problem for all types of households.   Single parent head of house hold are affected the most they lack the monetary resources and family kinships that come with a more traditional family that normally can benefit from grandparents and aunts and uncles. Single parent homes are headed by women in the most part. “Female headed families are most likely to experience poverty than male headed families.”  (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12).  (pg. 361) This occurs due to the low paying jobs or level of education compared to their counter parts that have more of an opportunity to get better paying jobs or the opportunity to finish school without the hassles of worrying about childcare and the safety and mental health and physical health of the child or children they are caring for. Males also are a smaller percentage of single parent headed households. It is hard on single parent they have to function as both parents they have fill all the roles. When a single mother goes on a job interview she has to be ready with adequate child care. Child care can also be an issue for two parent home of course it’s not as much of a hardship compared to the single parent home but neon the less they face some hardships too. The same issue are found in single head of household or in a two parent home we tends to believe because there is a two parent home childcare is not an issue. “As more women and mothers enter the workforce, child care has become an increasingly important public policy issue. Many families, particularly those with modest incomes, have trouble financing its cost. Poor quality of care is another persistent problem. Low wages for child care workers tend to promote high turnover and inexperienced providers, and patchworks of state regulations inadequately address these concerns. The federal and state governments have a number of programs that tackle some of these issues, but many problems still remain unsolved”. (http://www.policyalmanac.org) As more and more women have moved, by necessity or choice, from the home to the workforce, the need for affordable, high-quality child care has become critical. Sadly, this need often goes unmet. Each week nearly 5 million children are left unsupervised after school. This lack of supervision is associated with increased drug use, juvenile delinquency, and crime. The hardship with child care for the single parent is also they are less educated so they are in low paying jobs that cannot afford them adequate care for their kid. Unlike the two parents home where there is a support system is in place because there is a husband involved the children are mostly likely to be healthier better in school and live a more comfortable lifestyle especially when the family falls in the mid to higher income levels. So child care might have come with the worries of physical, emotional and mental safety of the children but the financial aspect is not a worry for most two parent homes like it is a single parent home. There is also the emotional separation a child might go through with Mother and experience anxiety especially if the mother spent the first couple of years with the child at home. Then there are parents who only take a six week maternity leave and go right back to work this can be problematic because the child might miss out in some cases with that bonding period with the mother. Instead they are they are exposed to a total stranger at a young age. Children with two parent home are more confident and don’t have self esteem issues while away from the parents The children of single parent homes tend to have confidence issues throughout their educations and suffer from more difficulties when comes to school and face social problems like drinking, use drugs, and becoming a drop out. Because they have had a single parent home that has struggled to balance it all. Like in most things there are exceptions to the rules of overcoming struggles and hardships. Social programs that are set up by the Government and Nonprofit organizations need to take a good look at all the types of programs that can help and pull single parent homes from poverty and the struggles for their children to get adequate care and education. It’s not going to be one thing that works it might be that it will be a combination of programs like the head start the welfare to work and low income day care centers and early child hood development centers. We can also look at summer programs that can be funded by community businesses as well as big business. Less income, education, safety housing, job stability health care emotional factors for the single parent and the children the neighborhood they might live in and the danger poverty which leads to less opportunity can be helped by taking preventive actions in order to help these single family homes. The single Parent faces all these issues when it comes to child care and though government and social services programs can only do so much it’s clear that we need to do find more effective was to help those who are willing to receive the help the greatest prevention in these social ills would be education and investing in the youth from the ages of three years ages and up. Though it seems to repeat that old saying of education is the answer to will help us minimize the social problems of tomorrow. However that’s the only logical solution that we can all agree on so our nation can stay competitive and lead the world in setting example of what a true democracy can be. Reference Page: Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. (2011). Social Problems and the Quality of Life (12th Ed.).     New York, NY: McGraw Hill.”   (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12) (pg. 348) (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12) (pg. 356)   (Lauer, R.H., & Lauer, J.C. Chapter 12) (pg. 361  Article child care: http://www.policyalmanac.org/social welfare/childcare.shtml America's Child Care Problem: The Way out by: Bergmann, Barbara R. Helburn, Suzanne Wiggans (Gordonsville, VA Macmillan) We Are Not Babysitters: Family Child Care Providers Redefine Work and Care  Tuominen, Mary C. New Brunswick, NJ, USA (Rutgers U. Press)  http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/docDetail.action'docID=10035743&p00=child+care