Minding the Children: Childcare in America from Colonial Times to the Present

Youcha (Women and Alcohol), a mother of three, argues that the concept of full-time motherhood is a ``myth'' because other women, as well as male relatives and servants, have always helped care for offspring, full- or part-time, singly or in groups. She cites the dame schools for two-year-olds in colonial times, as well as the children's projects during WWII, ``when almost forgotten federally supported centers provided everything from health care to before-and-after-school care to the children of women working in war industries.'' Youcha traces the effects of plantation life and the industrial revolution on the status of women and children, and the impact of more recent factors like feminism and single motherhood, the rise in the divorce rate and drug use. She rates Head Start as among the most promising current government-funded programs. Noting that each era has to find its own way of caring for its children, Youcha provides perspective for today's debates. Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.)