Parents Are Best for Children

Hat tip to Sibby for pointing out some good information about daycare and parenting.

Sibby covered it well, but at the risk of being repetitive, I think it's important enough to be hammered home.

From the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel editorial:

There are also 3.3 million American children under 5 who are at home with at least one parent, and 4.8 million who are cared for by a relative or a nanny. The increase in disruptive behavior was not seen in those arrangements, and the study’s authors do not try to explain why that might be.

But the study does conclude that “the quality of parenting that children receive is a far stronger and more consistent predictor of achievement and social functioning than children’s early child care.” And it says this about children in day care: “One possible reason why relations between center care and problem behavior may endure is that primary school teachers lack the training as well as the time to address behavior problems, given their primary focus on academics.”

Their conclusion:

Children at home, fewer behavior problems in school. Children in day care, fewer problems in school if their parenting is good. How hard is it to jump to the obvious conclusion that day care is not the best place for children?

As I've been saying, it all comes back to parenting. We can't let others raise our children for us; parents, if they make the effort, will always be the best caregiver for their children. And parents need to try, even if it takes some financial and self-actualization sacrifice.

What's their suggestion for a government role in really (REALLY) helping families?

All the government subsidies and incentives these days go to the large, institutional day care centers. Those who want to do something in-home, say, or use day care by a relative or a church, don’t get the same breaks. Taxing policy could be friendlier to families. An average family today pays more in federal, state and local taxes than for food, clothing, transportation and housing combined. If their tax burdens were lower, how many families could live on one income, and how many would choose to do so?

I think most families could do it even without the tax breaks if they were willing to make the sacrifice, but of course our taxes are definitely too high anyway. What the government is taking makes a church tithe look pretty cheap.

The question we need to ask ourselves: are our children worth the sacrifice?