American families' need for out-of-home childcare increases at an accelerated rate each year; yet our society lacks a policy for—and even a national commitment to—high-quality daycare. Such a national policy needs to be formulated within an examination of the tensions between social and familial childrearing. This essay explores these contextual issues from a historical perspective. The essay discusses: first, changes in the family as they relate to changes in the economy and polity; second, the role of the family as the basis for the young child's self-identity and internalization of society's values and practices; and third, the potential implications of changing patterns of the structure and functioning of the American family. Finally, the essay examines historical and current daycare policy and practice in relation to the family and the broader social structure.
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