Day cares, tax relief, and where are the feminists?
In light of this discussion, I thought the following email from the Family Research Council was quite pertinent:
For years, stay-at-home parents have been trivialized by feminists who wrongly believe that a mother or father's care is replaceable. However, a new study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH proves the feminist ideology wrong. The most expansive research of its kind, the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development found that putting a child in day care for a year or more increases the chances that the child will become disruptive in class--a trend that persists through the sixth grade.On a different note, my husband and I were talking last night about some of the comments on the difficulties of living on one income in other countries and it hit me: Where are the feminists? Aren't they supposedly all about choice for women? If so, why aren't they up in arms that it is almost impossible for many women in Sweden and other foreign countries to be able to have the choice to stay home with their children?
Perhaps most telling is the fact that these tendencies were evident despite the child's sex, family income, and even the quality of the day care center in question. The news will be particularly disappointing to day care advocates who have insisted that any negative effects are entirely contingent, on the "quality" of the care. In the U.S., experts estimate that 2.3 million kids under the age of 5 are in day care, while 4.8 million are in the care of a relative or nanny, and 3.3 million are at home with their parents.
Despite the large number of stay-at-home parents, the government is often lopsided in its support of families who choose out-of-the-home care for their kids. Research shows that most parents would prefer to tend for their kids themselves. If that's the case, why do government policies undercut parental choice and care? There is no substitute for the contributions that at-home parents make to the development of their children, often at financial sacrifice.
In light of the obvious benefits to kids, we urge Congress to pass Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) and Rep. Lee Terry's (R-Nebr.) Parents' Tax Relief Act. Through the bill's equalized tax treatment of stay-at-home parents, families would have the freedom to care for their own children.
posted by Crystal Paine at 10:30 AM
31 Comments:
Hmm. I was going to e-mail you that study, too, but never got around to it.
I don't think feminism is about choices anymore. It is about forcing everyone to be fair.
This is exactly what I was talking about on the "Feminism is bad for your health" thread. We need policies that make it easier for parents to stay home with their kids, not harder, but feminists tend to push policies that would make it more difficult for parents to stay home like (God forbid) government-funded daycare.
I hope this act passes. Brownback rocks. It would so cool if he got the Republical nomination and became president (probably not gonna happen though).
I agree with Zan's statement. It is more about being PC than anything.
What is even more frustrating is that Aaron and I will most likely have to put our baby in daycare. While I know the folks that are going to be caring for our little one, I'm still ill at ease over the entire situation. Unfortunately, with our wonderful debt load (seriously, pay for school as you go. Say no to student loans. *Sigh*), there is just no possible way to make the bills and have me stay home. There's a difference, I think, in working full time as a mommy so you can keep up with the Joneses, and working so it is possible to eat. The only glimmer of hope I have is that Aaron has promised me once some of our debt has been paid off, I can stay home. :)
I also think one problem with daycare is that parents don't always seem to research where they are placing their child. They aren't willing to speak up about the level of care being received, mainly because they don't want to "offend" anyone. I fully intend on speaking up if I feel something isn't right. It is my RIGHT as a parent.
We will probably continue to see reports like these as the new feminism unfolds....
I think the shape of feminism has quite drastically changed in the last 10-15 years. Gen Xers who spent their childhoods in daycare and latch-key are now feminist mothers who are CHOOSING to stay at home with their children.
That's why such feminists are now demanding that everyone has the right to choose (even in Sweden).
I think that the difficulty we're going to be dealing with now isn't so much women leaving their children for the workplace, it's going to be women turning their homes into mini-corporations. Children will be treated as employees with hectic activity schedules to train them up as gender-less, well rounded individuals. Little girls will be taught to demonstrate at all times that they are just as good (if not better) than boys in every way: they will be boxers, football players, hockey players, etc. Little boys will be taught to experiment with feminine dress, dolls, shoes, make-up, etc. so that the two shall become equal.
Both will be taught that the chief end of woman is material gain and happiness here on earth.
Of course I think that children should be raised in the home but if God is not in the home, the result may well be worse than daycare.
Major generalization:
The Babyboomers were raised in the home with stay-at-home mothers and they took off for Woodstock as fast as their VW's could carry them, not to mention abandoning their own children for the workplace... I just think it's important to point out that the stay-at-home mom formula will not guarantee Godly children, or even (at the very least) responsible citizens.
Feminism is not about choice. It is not about being fair. It is about forcing the wants and ideals of a few onto everybody, and preferential treatment for women.
I had ended my post with "preferential treatment of women". What it should have said is "preferential treatment of women who march to the feminist tune."
Crystal, I respect your right and decision to stay home. However, we must be careful that we do not crucify those who do not or cannot follow the same lifestyle. It seems that either one side or the other is always trying to bring up some study in order to to discredit the other "camp". One side says that mothers who stay at home are more prone to depression. The other says that daycare is damaging. It goes on and on, and is really quite sad when you think about it. Sometimes, I believe that people feel the need to make others feel wrong in order to make themselves feel more right. What should we be doing as Christian women and sisters? Building up...not tearing down. As Paul advises...we need to mind our own business a bit more instead of always concerning ourselves with what our neighbors are doing.
"The Babyboomers were raised in the home with stay-at-home mothers and they took off for Woodstock as fast as their VW's could carry them,"
Or to die in Vietnam. With about 60,000 of them killed and more than another 100,000 diabled and about 3,000,000 of them going to Vietnam, I'd say the generation "the Babyboomers rasied" did their duty for this country. They also fought on the streets of their own county for civil rights. People complain and complain about that generation but please don't forget that their goverment asked them to fight for the freedom of south Vietnam and they did. So many wives and mothers lost husbands and sons over there. The generation, at least in my opinion, was not horrible like people would have us believe. I would not sum them up by saying they "left for woodstock". Some women left the safety of their homes so they could go be nurses in Vietnam, many so they could be close to their drafted husbands. Many gave their lives for others without thinking twice.
Lauren: Thanks for sharing. I have to disagree with you, though, that we should just leave the issue alone for the sake of "building up". I feel that one of the best things I can do on this blog is to encourage and build up women in their God-given roles. One of those roles for many women is being a mother.
The reason I feel so strongly about things like day care and a mother's responsibility to care for her children is not because I just want to take a "side." It is because I believe this is clearly what is commanded in Scripture. The Biblical role of a mother is to be the primary caregiver for her child. I know this is not a popular view, but this is what Scripture has commanded. A woman's first priority is to her home, her husband, and her family.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule and rare cases when a mother must work for a short season, especially when unwise financial decisions have been made in the past, etc. However, as long as I have breath in my lungs, I will continue to hold up motherhood as a glorious and Godly calling and continue to fight against the unBiblical feministic worldview which says that a woman should choose what is best for her - even if it means that her family suffers as a result. If I'm called a fool, I'm called a fool. If I offend others, I offend others. I cannot and will not back down from what I believe is not only in the best interest of children but what I also believe is clear from Scripture.
God bless you!
Hello Crystal,
Thank you for posting on this. It is one of my "pet" subjects. Have to be careful to not get too carried away.
My comment was going to be way too long so I posted about it on my blog.
Take Care,
Trixie
I understand what Lauren is saying but the problem is that feminism is trying to force me to not be a stay at home mom. I'm not attacking anyone, I want them to leave me alone! I don't want to be attacked.
In my state, we are fighting a bill right now that makes it mandatory for kids to go into early childhood education (day care at the preschool level) not allowing me to raise my babies at home until school age. Next, they won't let me home school them either. I wrote my senator who is Methodist and a Republican and his exact words back to me were "My general philosophy has always been that decisions affecting children and families are best made by local and State authorities." And what they think is best is that they take control of your children at an early age without you having the right as a parent to care for them and raise them yourself and you have to pay for it through your taxes. Lovely! Am I still in a free country?
And as far as depression, it's my choice to stay at home and be depressed if that's what I choose. It's no one else's choice. And if I'm depressed, then it's my responsibility as an adult to take care of it and get help. It's not the state's burden, it's my burden. Could we all just act like adults and accept responsibility for ourselves and our children? Do I hear an amen?
J
Anonymous: I don't want you to think I'm saying the boomers are horrible. I was raised by two of their finest. I tried to make it clear that I was making a major generalization.
My point was entirely about families/gender roles, and raising children at home. And regardless of the many great contributions/exceptions of the Baby Boomers, they will be remembered for much more than Vietnam and are fairly well-accepted proof that a traditional at-home upbringing doesn't guarantee a good outcome. This whole conversation about feminism is due in many ways to the efforts of our baby boomers (raised in the home)! Doesn't anyone else find that ironic?
I'll say it again, just so there isn't any confusion: I am very thankful for the contributions of the Baby Boomers (and every generation prior and since) for our country.
Part of being a responsible citizen is realizing the weaknesses of the generation we find ourselves born into.
I already see some of the failures of my generation: unprecendented personal debt, Abu Ghirab, refusal to complete the transition into adulthood, forcing our homes/children into a business model, the growing gender-confused movement---those are just a few of the weaknesses I see so far. But this outcome is more expected since (major generalization) many of us were raised in daycare and/or left alone all day...Give me another 20 years and I'll acknowledge more of our faults...just trying to be objective!
I am not attacking the "other side" but I think it is right to stand up for what is biblically right. We have been taught that it is okay for a christian woman to leave her children every day so you can go and earn money while stretching yourself to the limit to try to be a good mother, keep your house and earn money and the fact of life is while many do it, it is not good for you or your children.
There may be studies on both sides to prove what is wrong with one or the other, but I believe that when we were told in the bible to love our children that does include sending them off to daycare.
My brother and sister worked at a daycare and I have babysat children also, the mentality of daycare does not give the children stability, but every adult in their life becomes expendable. They do not know they can trust their parents as they are not around much.
I know people who have to work and send their children to daycare. My sister was one of them.... but she never said it was the ideal situation. Instead you have to be afraid as you hear of all the things besides sicknesses they are exposed to! i know there are cases like that and it is sad, but it never as good for them as to be cared for by their family.
My comment might get too long so I will post on my own blog.
I hope this will be seen by the person who posted as "anonymous J".
I had to read twice to make sure it was writed by a US resident.I am not to familar with homeschooling, but I do believe it is impossible for a US state to make it illegal. I just read a book that mentioned the fact that homeschooling can not be outlawed because parents made note of legal cases based on the 'right to privacy' to educate at home. Unfortunately these right to privacy issues are the same that were used in Roe V Wade.
Like I said earlier I am not familar in this area. Keep searching the web for other sites. I'm sure Crystal has a link or two that could be of help.
Why not ask the children? "Would you rather go to daycare, or be at home with Mom?" What do you think their answer would be?
So many that have their children in daycare have never tried to be SAHM. Why not give it a try? See if you would save in the end? So many times, the $ is the issue. I never did see the savings in placing my children in the care of another, and then trying to undo all the bad traits they picked up while being taught the values of another.
Ladies, PRAY and ask God what He would have you do! And be willing to accept His answer!
Ruth, PA
Many of you seem to only view this in black and white - the fact that the picture isn't perfect doesn't mean that feminist is bad, wrong, or ineffective. Feminism is indeed about choices, but the world is an imperfect place and feminists, like everyone else, are imperfect people. Few real active feminists, myself included, will say that the the feminist movement is obsolete. Unfortunately, the movement is held back and its reputation tarnished by internal extremism and uninformed detractors on the outside. I am a feminist for all women, not just for myself, but even for women who disagree with my outlook. Because I am a liberal Jewish woman, I certainly understand that I'm not in a place where I should expect a lot of people to agree with me. But I think it's important that I clarify, as a practicing feminist, that it is not accurate or fair to simply dismiss feminism out of hand. It's unfortunate that Swedish mothers do not often have the luxury of staying home with their children, but the situation is less about feminism and more about a difficult fiscal situation. Feminists can't simply march into Sweden and demand that things change.
Just hoping to contribute to thoughtful discussion. Keep up the faithful blogging, Crystal, you've provided me with an interesting glimpse into a different way of life.
Several months back, I wrote a post on my blog about my experience working at two different daycare centers. If you don't mind, Crystal, I'll provide the link to that post:
http://unfoldingmoments.blogspot.com/2006/06/my-daycare-experience.html
The simple fact is, many people who put their children in daycare have never spent more than 10 minutes at a time inside the building.
One of the most alarming aspects of my time working at these centers was that most of the parents barely took the time to talk to me everyday. Some of them would walk into the room, greet their child, then leave without even acknowledging my presence. They didn't know my name or anything about me. AND I WAS SPENDING ALL DAY WITH THEIR CHILDREN! What did these people think...that their children were on auto-pilot from 6am-6pm everyday, not being shaped by this environment and these people they were with? And it wasn't necessary to find out who we were and whether we were worthy of shaping their impressionable children?
I must agree that the Bible is clear regarding our role as women. Unfortunately, it's very counter-cultural to be "bold" regarding this view of God, husband, children, and home as our main priorities. Why is the church so mixed up today? Why do we just go along with everything the world does? We should be the ones saying "Hey, women in the church are choosing a career over family and it's wrong. Look at how our families are suffering! Look at the rate of divorce, teen pregnancy, Bible illiteracy... etc." Again, thank you Crystal for not backing down on what you believe is Biblical truth! I'm with ya sister.
I am a Christian, a mom and a graduate student in Early childhood education and I had a chance to read the actual research in the latest issue of Child Development and it's not a seathing indictment of childcare and makes no mention of feminism.
The research mentions several positive effects of "quality childcare" including language development and academic skills as well as the negative "higher level of problem behaviors as reported by teachers". Furthermore "parent quality" was also a strong variable in child outcomes. Which is fairly similar to what the Time piece said.
I do not agree that government funded day care makes it harder for people to stay home with their kids as was suggested by one of the comments. I would say the government in general is not very supportive of women who work (inside or outside the home)and daycare and family leave is just a small part of it.
I agree with Andrea about the need for parents to be active and involved in finding the right day care for their child. I do not think it is a matter of not wanting to offend anyone but more a matter of not having opportunity and expertise to find the best care. Quality childcare is expensive and hard to find. I wish that there where more quality child care centers available for parents to find and more flexibility for women who might want or need to work part time.
I do not understanding the link between feminism and childcare. Most working women are not white middleclass women working to keep up with the Joneses, they are single moms trying to keep their family fed, clothed and housed. To me feminism is sticking up for these women too. Trying to make the world a better place not just for my children but for all children.
But I see here that this conversation isn't about what is right for women in general or even feminism, but what is right for Christian women.
Crystal you say "It is because I believe this is clearly what is commanded in Scripture. The Biblical role of a mother is to be the primary caregiver for her child"
I too am a Christian, I would be interested in where exactly the mandate for women to stay home can be found. As I mentioned before I am a graduate student and my son spends 3 mornings a week in "school" at a local church. I believe this has been a positive experience for our whole family.
I am wondering where the Proverbs 31 woman fits in with your view? "She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle."
Just my two cents...probably more like five.
I wish you all the best with your family. I enjoy so much your writing.
Keystone: Actually, yes, it can be made illegal to homeschool. The legislature could at any time rule and make government schooling mandatory or say that only certified teachers can teach, or any number of other things which could eliminate homeschooling as we know it today. Though homeschooling has become widely accepted in the US, I believe that parental freedom is very much at risk - especially with many of those who are in power who believe the government knows better how to parent than a parent. We must not sit back in our easy chairs and think everything will be okay. "Evil prevails when good men [and women!] do nothing."
For Beth and others wondering why I believe that Scripture is clear on the issue of mothers being the primary nurturers of their children, there is so much I could say on the issue and so many Scriptures I could share. Two very clear-cut passages are as follows:
From Deut. 6:
1Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
It is very clear from this passage that parents are to be the ones directing their child's upbringing. It is impossible to teach your child and raise your child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord when you sit down, when you lie down, when you rise up, and when walk by the way, if you are not with them for the majority of the day.
In Titus, Paul speaks to both older women and younger women:
2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
In this passage we see that it is very important that the young women love their husbands, are obedient to their own husbands, love their children, and are keepers at home. It even goes so far to say "that the Word of God be not blasphemed" making it clear that when do not fulfill these duties, the Word of God is blasphemed. That's strong verbage!
The Greek word for "keepers at home" literally means to be a guardian of your home. The mother is responsible to guard her home and family. How can a mother do this if she is not there the majority of the time nor that involved in her children's lives?
There’s much more I could write on this topic – maybe it should be a series of blog posts in the future?! – but for now, it is my bedtime. Others feel free to jump in and share on this. I know there are many more verses to be shared.
Oh and on the question of my thoughts on the Proverbs 31 woman, here’s just a fun article on the subject of women reaching their full potential that I wrote awhile back:
http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/article19.htm
And another: Recapture the Nobility of Home –
http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/article108.htm
And finally: A Keeper-at-Home –
http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/article13.htm
We have a homeschool coop class at a families house that run a daycare. She was telling me how a mother who had never met her before, just came and dropped her son off. Also the standards for daycare are not very high here and although her house is perfectly acceptable, we shudder to think of the ones that are not and have never been accepted. One I was in contact with, I did not understand the parents coming in droves to leave their children there!
I think the Prov. 31 woman did do those things, but those were things we do also as mothers and wives in keeping our home, we do not have to leave our home, our children and neglect them to fufill these things. We can buy and sell land, make and sell things from our home. We should neglect our family to do these things.
I dont have any official figures from a study, but as an RN at a pediatric hospital, I can tell you from personal experience that it is not uncommon for toddlers in daycare to have up to 20 upper respiratory infections per year. We get calls from families/PCP's on a regular basis thinking that the kiddo has an immunodeficiency. My first question is "is the child in daycare?" and my second is "does anyone in the household smoke"-if the answer is yes to either of those questions, you most likely have your answer!
The parents are usually frustrated because they are having to miss work because their kiddo is ill...
Unless anyone else wants to discuss the Biblical roles for women - which I'll be happy to do - I think this discussion has about come to a close. There are a lot of other feminists who are wanting to get in on it, but I've pretty much said what I'd like to say on the subject and don't really feel like rehashing how detrimental feminism has been for our culture and how all the supposed new freedoms and choices it has brought have actually brought with them so many greater consequences and rampant problems than we ever had before radical feminism reared it's head. Read some of the archives if you want further evidence of that - or just take a look at modern culture for a few moments.
However, I did find one thing interesting - I heard from many feminists on this post - many of the comments which I didn't post. But not one of them expressed any support or excitement for the tax relief for stay-at-home parents which was mentioned rather heavily in this post. I found that kind of telling. I wonder what the response would have been from feminists if I had posted about tax relief for women who have abortions or choose career over marriage?
I agree with some of the others that we need to be careful to avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater and assuming every woman who works by choice is abandoning her children or home. The fact is God never condemned women working outside the home. It is true our society’s laws are often not helpful for women who want to stay home, and I agree that ought not to be. However, when we look in the Old Testament and see the only society that ever had all its laws straight from the pen of the Lord, we see that a large number of women were in the employ of other men as maidservants. Even the Fourth and Tenth Commandments assume this fact. Yes, I know the majority of them were slaves, but the fact is, God not approved of a system whereby many women were involved in work outside their homes. And the New Testament never repeals this but rather assumes the Master/Servant relationship continues, as it is addressed five times in the Epistles.
I believe that a married woman’s first priorities are her husband, her children and her home, in that order. If those priorities are met she can work beyond that. Don’t get me wrong, in a lot of circumstances the demands of home will simply be too much to allow a woman to work outside. A woman with young children, for instance, will typically have too much on her plate to handle anything else, but a woman with no children yet, or whose children are all grown, will have significantly more time.
It is a woman’s duty to take care of her home, and that is not a duty to be taken lightly, but
1) the bible does not say she must do all the tasks herself. Families in the bible that could afford them employed servants to do many tasks. Women today need not do all the homekeeping work themselves, but may use older children, machines or outsource them (ie sending clothes to a laundry mat). Please note I didn’t say they MUST or they SHOULD, but rather they may, it is a legitimate option.
2) Different husbands will want different levels of care for their homes and the wife’s duties will vary accordingly. However, the husband still has a level of freedom to choose. If a man is willing to eat take-out food some nights so that the wife may work (assuming the couple has no children yet) there is nothing in the bible to condemn that choice.
I guess I would disagree that the bible presents women working as necessarily an undesirable thing. It is true it has been horrendously abused in our society, but that is no reason to condemn it completely. I believe there is a degree of liberty in this matter, constrained by the circumstances of each family. Of course like all liberties, this can be pushed beyond the expedient, but we ought not go beyond the bible and judge what each family chooses, for that is something husband and wife will decide for themselves, with the wife submitting to the husband in the final analysis.
I'm "anonymous J" and even though Crystal so kindly supported my thoughts, I'd like to also say that, yes, I'm from the US and yes, the US government CAN take away our right to homeschool. And I should clarify that I meant, "being a stay at home mom WITH my children in my home". Only in recent years is it finally legal (at the moment) to home school in all the states. And, even though it may be legal, there is resistence, hence many home schoolers having their children taken away and many court cases. I'm trying not to make this too long, but yes, I was home schooled, hidden, and watched my friends get taken away and their parent's jailed in a LEGAL to home school state. If there wasn't a risk of home schooling becoming illegal, there would be no purpose for HSLDA (www.hslda.org). Now we haven't come to the mandatory preschool compulsory age in our state yet but I still don't want to pay taxes so that the Smith's kid next door can go to day care so his mommy can work to make more money (and in my neighborhood it's not because they need the money for food!). If his mommy wants to work, fine, that's her choice but don't make me pay for her kid to be in day care.
Keystone Belle, I did read your post. I'm not sure what book it was that you read and I'd like to agree with the book (wishing it were truly that way) but it would be naive to think that the battle for home school freedom isn't continually taking place.
I could sit here and list all my credentials that give me authority on the subject but suffice to say, the bottom line is that certain feminist movements have influenced the idea of SAHM vs working mom. As far as scripture goes, there isn't a sentence that says "all women must be stay at home mommies". If you are a believer trying to see God's plan (as uncurrupted by sin in the world) you are often convicted by the many verses in scripture to be the one responsible for raising your own children. Don't do it because of articles and studies, do it because you know God intended for you to raise and nurture your children in the Lord and you want to do the best you can for God with the little time you have with your children AND so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Titus 2:5 "to be sensible, pure, WORKERS AT HOME, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored."
Crystal, love your blog and appreciate everyone's thought provoking comments.
Ming - I'm assuming you are new around here because I have covered this at length in the past - Welcome!
I agree with you very much that we cannot say it is always a sin for a woman to work outside the home. I don't believe that and have written much on the subject. As you said, when a woman is married, her first priority is to her home, her husband, and her family. When a woman has children - especially when they are young, I believe it is almost impossible to be their primary caregiver/nurturer and to work full-time. I just don't think the two can happen without one or the other suffering - and very likely, the children and the mother's health and sanity! I also think it is wrong for a woman to sacrifice her marriage, home, and family on the altar of her work, career, success.
However, when a woman doesn't have children, her children are grown, or she isn't married, I believe there are definitely times when it can be completely okay to work - each situation will be different and I can't speak to all the specifics but I just wanted to clarify in case you thought I was saying it is always wrong in every circumstance for a woman to work outside the home. There are also situations where a woman must work outside the home for a short period of time due to difficult circumstances financially or if she is doing so in submission to her husband.
My heart is to encourage women to focus on their God-given responsibilities of husband, home, and family. The world is constantly denigrating women who have these priorities and I want to uphold marriage, home, and family - even if it is the unpopular view - because I believe it is the Biblical view.
I noticed how beth and some other proponents of daycare are now calling it, "childcare." Interesting. I think that makes it sound better. Kind of like illegal aliens are now, "undocumented workers." As long as I can, *I* will be the one "caring" for my children. They're mine. Quality "daycare" might be helpful in some areas, but it is expensive and I am sure the feminists would LOVE government funded "daycare". However, when has the government ever done anything with high quality, lately?
Thank you for helping me ladies. I needed to be reminded how fragile many of our freedoms are. The book I saw that info about homeschooling and right to privacy was "Forced Labor" by Brian C. Robertson
I am working part time at a daycare. It used to be full time, but I saw too many things that broke my heart. Debt, student loans, kept me from leaving totally. I am still seeing too many sad things at work. I hate to make my husband pay off my debts, but I don't think I can stay at that job much longer!
I have faith God will take care of our needs. I need to be at peace with the thought that my idea of paying the debt off fast so we could adopt a child soon may not be God's plan for us.
A very interesting article and indeed. I don't think the government is too much in favor of the family in general and taxes and other social benefits are no expception.
We've used FSA before (Flexible Spending Accounts) for various things but the childcare has to be a licensed daycare and so far I haven't seen any tax breaks if we hire a personal nanny and it's frustrating.
FSA is applicable to Preschools including church preschools and there are probably lots of people with kids in programs that don't take advantage of that.
We sent Riley to school one day a week for a few hours because the option was better than any childcare person we could find to come to our home. FSA was a great way to decrease our taxable income and and also use pretax dollars.
The article I read the other day noted that daycares produced children with more behavioral problems whereas children in the care of a nanny, parent, or other relative did not differ in behavioral problems.
Catherine
I wouldn't call myself a proponent of daycare or childcare, I was simply citing the term used in the original research which included not just daycare centers but any care not given by the mother including fathers and grandmothers. I do support government funded daycare and I am also in favor of free public K-12 education for all children. I also believe that parents should have the right to make other choices, including homeschooling.
My primary concern is the availability of quality daycare for families who don't have a choice about work. Many working families are doing the best they can just to make ends meet and the lack of quality childcare available is disturbing.
As a Christian, I take seriously my responsibility to care for those less fortunate as well as my responsibility to teach my son to do the same. I believe if we are to be a society that truly cares for our children we must do the best we can to ensure they are receiving quality care at home or daycares.
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