Who Will Mind the Baby? Geographies of Child-Care and Working Mothers (1996) Routledge: London and New York

Who Will Mind the Baby? offers geographic explorations of child care at a variety of geographic scales within the context of US and Canadian case studies. The book is organized around two themes: the government’s role in child care provision, and the child care arrangements and everyday geographies of working mothers

Child care provision is geographically uneven in North America, reflecting the haphazard manner in which child care provision has evolved. Neither the US nor Canada has a national child care policy -- in stark contrast to most European countries, where child care is a national concern. The book explores the sociospatial implications of public policies in the US and Canada relating to the provision, funding, and regulation of child care, employing case studies pitched at a variety of scales: national, regional, rural, metropolitan, and local levels.

The book also discusses how mothers daily routines link the varied geographies of child care, home and paid work. Geographies that invariably do not overlap as child care facilities are often located away from the home and workplace. Exploring everyday geographies of working mothers, the authors look at journeys to child care, reasons for selecting particular child care arrangements, and the coping strategies of working mothers. Finally, the book places child care in international perspective and considers future research on child are provision.

BOOK CONTENTS

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1. Who Will Mind The Baby?
Kim England

PART II: THE PROVISION OF CHILD CARE AT THE STATE AND PROVINCIAL LEVEL

2. Minding The Baby In The United States
David E. Bloom and Todd P. Steen

3. Minding The Baby In Canada
Marie Truelove

PART III: THE PROVISION OF CHILD CARE AT THE STATE AND PROVINCIAL LEVEL

4. Making The Transition To School: Which communities provide full-day public kindergarten?
Ellen K. Cromely

5. Child Care Services In Ontario: Service availability in decentralized provision system
Ian Skelton

PART IV: THE LOCAL LEVEL: JOURNEY TO CHILD CARE AND COPING STRATEGIES

6. The Journey To Child Care In A Rural American Setting
Holly J. Myers-Jones and Susan R. Brooker-Gross

7. The Locational Context Of Child Care Centers In Metropolitian Toronto
Marie Truelove

8. Mothers, Wives, Workers: The everyday lives of working mothers
Kim England

9. Mother Or Worker?
Women’s support networks, local knowledge and informal child care strategies
Isabel Dyck

PART V: CHILD CARE IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

10. The State And Child Care: An international review from a geographic perspective
Ruth Fincher

PART VI: CONCLUSION

11. Conclusion
Kim England