While Mothers Work

The registered nurse walked into the bright, clean child-care center in Santa Monica, seeking to enroll her 3 1/2-year-old daughter. Aware that the state-supported center gave priority to children of single, low-income mothers, she was confident that her daughter would be accepted. What she did not know, however, was that her salary ($600 a month) put her in a top-fee bracket: placing her youngster in the center would cost her $200 a month, far more than she could afford. "She came in here so strong," the center's director recalled. "Then, as we talked about her situation, she began to crumble. She didn't stand a chance." Now the mother has gone on welfare--thus making her child eligible for center care at a fee of only $19.50 a month --and spends her days studying for her master's degree in nursing. Asks the center's director: "Are we really rewarding the independent working mother?"

The answer, in Santa Monica and across the nation, is no. Although day-care centers may be the only practical solution for most working mothers, they are scarce and, in some communities, nonexistent. Most of those that are in operation are far too expensive. Because of the freedom that they promise, day-care centers have become a major Women's Lib issue. Feminists argue that free, high-quality day care is essential if women are to participate fully in society.

Day-care centers come in a variety of sizes and quality, and are run by government, industries, unions and small entrepreneurs. One of the best is Santa Monica's Lincoln Child Development Center, where the registered nurse's child is enrolled. It is operated with funds from the Federal Government, the state and the local school district. The cost of caring for each child is estimated at close to $2,400 a year. Only a small fraction of that cost is met by parents, who pay fees that vary with their incomes. Those on welfare, like the nurse, pay as little as $15.60 per month, while a parent earning, say, $6,000 a year would be charged $35.

Lincoln Center, one of four similar operations in Santa Monica, is a one-story, eight-room stucco structure built eight years ago. Floors are carpeted; there is an ample supply of toys and teaching materials, and a paved play area surrounds the building. Lincoln accepts only 36 children per term and, unlike the other three centers, takes only preschoolers (ages three to five). Says Mrs. Lee Murray, head of the center: "Neighborhood children come by to visit every day. I wish we had room for them all."

Lincoln maintains a teacher-child ratio of 1 to 5. Teachers are college-trained for their jobs, put in an eight-hour day, and are occasionally aided by mothers. Open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., the center offers activities such as storytelling, dramatics, creative arts and simple scientific demonstrations. Parents are enthusiastic. A black mother says: "This school is marvelous. It deepens your involvement with your own children." Adds a white parent: "It's not just a baby-sitting factory. We have a real sense of community."

Santa Monica's well-run centers are exceptions. Most communities depend upon privately owned nurseries in private homes, costing anywhere from $65 a month per child up to more than $100 for half-day care. A variation on the private-home theme is Family Day Care, now being tested in California under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; it provides home care for perhaps five or six youngsters including the volunteer day-care mother's own kids. In Pasadena, for example, a network of 25 day-care mothers tend about 125 children ranging in age from two months up to eleven years. "It works well in California," says Mrs. June Sale, project director. "Nearly everyone has a backyard, where children can play and learn about things like digging for worms. You can't do that sort of thing in a New York tenement."

At least a dozen large American corporations are already involved in day-care centers, and the feminists are pressing hard to make others go along. In Washington, D.C., for example, employees of Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. can leave their children at the specially designed center in the southeast section. The fee: $15 a week. Avco's Boston plant, which also has a center, charges the same rate for children of its own employees and outside youngsters. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America sponsors six union-backed day-care centers in the East and Midwest--open five days a week, 50 weeks a year, and free for children of union members. About 70% of the union's membership is female. Cost of running the centers ($3,000 per child per year) is borne by the clothing industry, which is bound by contract to provide funds.

As more and more women seek jobs (5.6 million families in the U.S. are headed by women), the need for day-care centers is bound to increase. A study made by the National Council of Jewish Women shows that in many major cities only 10% of children needing day care were being provided for. The report also reveals a "terrifying collection" of abuses across the country in existing centers, including overcrowding, filthy facilities and exorbitant fees. In one home, 47 children were being tended, but the home was licensed for only six. Survey workers found several centers that had been left in the charge of ten-and eleven-year-old youngsters. Laws to regulate centers are often ignored: Washington, for example, has just one inspector for its many all-day centers and homes.

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