Children's Interests/Mothers' Rights: The Shaping of America`s Child Care Policy [Hardcover]

Professor Sonya Michel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300059515 | ISBN-13: 978-0300059519 | Publication Date: April 10, 1999 | Edition: 1

A comprehensive history of child care policy and practice in the USA from the colonial period to the present. It draws on a range of archival material to demonstrate why the current child care system evolved as it has and places its history within a broad comparative context.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this historical view of U.S. child care policy from the 1850s to the late 1990s, Michel (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) shows how government, philanthropists, educational reformers, and social welfare professionals interacted to shape evolving policies. Among the many quoted key figures and documents in the history of child welfare and women's rights, particularly interesting are the efforts of social welfare professionals to prevent the establishment of universal day care. Michel states that "the presence of mothers in the workforce is presented not as a normal feature of advanced market economies, but as a `social problem' " and, since children are viewed as deprived, "children's interests are implicitly positioned in opposition to women's rights." Two other interesting recent books on child care history are Geraldine Youcha's Minding the Children (LJ 3/15/95) and Elizabeth Rose's A Mother's Job (Oxford Univ., 1998). Michel emphasizes policy and offers the most complete history of government and voluntary agency efforts. An excellent purchase for social welfare, social history, and women's studies collections at academic and public libraries.AMary Jane Brustman, SUNY at Albany Libs.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

The current child care system in the United States can be described as erratic, inadequate, and stigmatized. In this comprehensive history of American child care policy and practices from the colonial period to the present, Sonya Michel explains why child care has evolved as it has and compares U.S. policy to that of other democratic market societies. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (April 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300059515
• ISBN-13: 978-0300059519
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,766,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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