Abstract
In their book In our hands: The struggle for U.S. child care policy, Elizabeth Palley and Corey S. Shdaimah strive to unpack the political discourse surrounding child care policies in the United States. They aim to identify the barriers to developing a more comprehensive child care policy that is needed in the United States. Through an analysis of specific political debates such as the Child Care Development Act, the authors illustrate the political framing of child care issues. The recurring framing is that child care services are perceived as either a support to enable employment for low-income parents or as an educational intervention to combat disadvantage.
In the case of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the need to care for one’s child has been conceptualized as universal but only as a short-term need. This political response of poverty-based and short-term support reflects the larger struggle of the appropriate involvement of government in family matters. It also raises the question about how the appropriate role of mothers is defined. With this backdrop, Palley and Shdaimah review the ideological framework and the legal setup of politics in the United States and show how these shape child care debates and the lack of political action despite the clearly established needs of families and the benefits of high-quality care.
After illustrating the framework apparent in relevant political debates, as well as describing the need for universal, accessible, and adequate child care, the authors report their findings from interviews with key stakeholders from elite advocacy groups. Advocacy groups appear divided in the focus of their efforts. While some groups highlight the educational component, others focus on child care for low-income families yet none seem to work toward a comprehensive and universal system appropriate for the needs of all families and children.
The authors identify barriers that might hamper the development of a larger movement toward universal child care. For example, funding from donors is often short term and focused on research or policy analysis, which does not support the larger work of public mobilization and the building of a grassroots movement. There are a variety of constituencies involved with different interests that compete for a limited amount of resources that hinders concerted efforts toward a larger vision as opposed to incremental change. The book closes with suggestions for building a social movement with broad public support and the authors conclude: “Ultimately, we do not need more information or more models and we do not need minor changes to existing policies. We need a revolution” (p. 220). The analysis provides insights of the stumbling blocks toward universal child care and possible leverage for change and already existing solutions in several states and the U.S. military. The authors highlight the competing discourses that are often divided along class, race, and gender lines. Even in this book, child care is at times identified as women’s issue rather than a family or parental issue, leaving fathers’ work and parenting decisions unquestioned.
This book provides a great overview of barriers within the political system and illustrates many of the unmet needs of families and children in the current system. The analysis of the child care movement as an effective social movement adds to the current literature and provides insights for practitioners about how to move forward. This book is also useful for students of social work, social policy, and anyone interested in educational and family issues.