Posted on 02/26/2008 7:37:33 AM PST by mnehring
LEAD: Ten years after the U.S. started talking about ''family values,'' many wonder why we are still unable to provide decent education, health care and opportunity for all of our children....
... At this pivotal moment, much can be learned by comparing America's child care system to France's.... ...What we saw was a coordinated, comprehensive system, supported across the political spectrum, that links day care, early education and health care - and is accessible to virtually every child...
We found sharp contrasts between the French and U.S. child care systems....In France, mandated paid parental leave for child birth and adoption acknowledges society's obligation to nurture strong parent-child ties....
In the U.S., where only a few states require employers to grant parental leave for child birth or adoption -usually without pay - the cost and disruption of child bearing is viewed as a private choice and responsibility...
France, where preventive health services are integrated with child care programs, ranks fourth lowest in infant mortality among industrial nations. The U.S., where child care and health care are largely separate, ranks 19th lowest.....
... Throughout the 1980's, debate over child care in the U.S. always seemed to focus on ''family values.'' This assumes that parents alone can always determine and then provide - personally or through the marketplace - what's best for their children and, hence, society....
...Child care is not just a family matter. To do our children and our country justice, we need to develop a nationwide consensus on how to best nurture our children, and, through that nurturing, prevent the personal and social costs we all pay when children's needs are not met.
Before we lock ourselves into a makeshift, inadequate child care policy, we ought to consider valuing children, French-style.
(Excerpt) Read more at query.nytimes.com ...
These are just snips of the article as the NYT must be excerpted.
C.S. Lewis said that, in the socialist world of the future, every child will be “A bastard raised by a bureau.”
Probably true...at the current rate of inflation, everyone will be busy with 2 jobs, just to cover expenses, and they won’t have time to care for their kids.
Ping
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