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Click on each question to check your answer.
Test Your Knowledge
1. What are the unique barriers faced by rural families in accessing quality childcare?
They may have special scheduling needs because they are more likely to be engaged in seasonal work. They may also need extended hours due to longer commuting times. Rural communities also have fewer options for regulated, safe, high-quality daycare.
2. What barriers do Indigenous Peoples in Canada face in obtaining childcare?
There are not enough regulated childcare spaces for Indigenous children, and the spots available do not always meet the unique cultural needs of this population.
3. Name five reasons that children benefit from high-quality, reliable early childhood education and care.
- Better nutrition and health
- Higher intelligence scores
- Sense of agency
- More likely to stay in school
- More likely to secure reliable employment
- Better able to parent themselves
4. Name five reasons why more mothers are working today than ever before.
- Better domestic technology
- More domestic contributions by men
- More stay-at-home dads
- Less discrimination at work
- More women in post-secondary education
- Smaller families
- Financial concerns
- Because women want to!
5. Fill in the blank: Some ________ families can afford to pay for care, but the care they can afford is often substandard.
Low-income
6. Fill in the blank: ________ require physical accommodations, lower caregiver-child ratios, or a caregiver who is specially trained to deliver their program.
Children with special needs
7. What are three different strategies for connecting families and childcare?
Answers may include the carer strategy, the earner strategy, the choice strategy, and/or the earner-carer strategy.
8. Why are rules and integration good for people’s health?
Other things being equal, clear social rules and expectations are better for people than a lack of rules, and social integration is better than isolation or extreme individualism. Integrative relationships also provide a better environment for children to grow in.
9. Why are families good providers of rules and integration, compared to other social institutions (for example, schools, workplaces)?
Functionalists see the family as a microcosm of society, with mothers chiefly responsible for (and capable of) socializing children. Stable families provide children with a sense of security and attachment that is important for their healthy development.
10. In the table below, correctly match each theoretical perspective with its main points:
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1) b; 2) a; 3) c
Questions for Critical Thought
1. Do single fathers face the same problems as single mothers? Explain why or why not.
Single mothers face greater difficulties than single fathers, as they are more disadvantaged than men. Your answer should articulate how women are more disadvantaged than men and how this disadvantage would bleed into the difficulties faced by a single mother (compared to a single father).
2. If all Canadian provinces provided free childcare, should refugees and undocumented or non-status immigrants be entitled to it?
Refugees and undocumented or non-status immigrants are among the disadvantaged groups in Canada suffering from inequality. As stated in the chapter, “all parents want the best for their children, but few parents can afford the kind of expensive childcare and child rearing practices wealthy parents can provide.” Regardless of their status, migrants in Canada should have access to childcare. Because these individuals are already disadvantaged by the system in place, restricting their access to childcare that is hypothetically free for everyone else is morally wrong and oppressive.
3. What theoretical perspective(s) on unequal access to daycare and early childhood education do you subscribe to?
This question is subjective, but you should reference at least one (and preferably more) of the theoretical perspectives in the chapter in order to formulate a concrete argument. Stakeholders and disadvantaged individuals should be taken into account.
4. Should all childcare and childhood education providers be trained to meet the unique cultural needs of the Indigenous population? Why or why not?
Benefits of training: Preserves traditional languages and cultures by teaching the next generation; stimulates economic returns; helps build social and cultural capital, enabling a breakout from poverty; invests in the prosperity of the Indigenous population; better for the development and health of children with special needs.
Disadvantages of training: Expensive and highly specialized.
5. Should the government subsidize parents directly or pay some or all of the operating costs of childcare centres?
Benefits of subsidizing parents: Decreases the out-of-pocket cost for families.
Disadvantages of subsidizing parents: Childcare costs are still determined by the market and subsidies may not be sufficient; means-tested subsidies disadvantage families with fluctuating incomes; families are forced to pick childcare services that are covered by the subsidies, rather than specialized ones that they desire.
Benefits of subsidizing childcare centres: More government control over prices; universal services; cheaper cost for families; more accessibility for disadvantaged families; higher capacities.
Disadvantages of subsidizing childcare centres: Less specialized services; overcapacity; accessible to everyone (both rich and poor), while one group may rely on the services more than another.
It is up to you to compare the various advantages and disadvantages of both courses of action to formulate an argument as to what your ideal choice would be. Discussions in the chapter should be taken into account, including but not limited to the section on subsidies.