Taking a Closer Look at Child Care

 

In this new informative documentary we take a closer look at the pleasures and pitfalls of child care in Chicago, told firsthand by family child care providers, preschool teachers and parents of young children.

 

Parents express their genuine pleasure in seeing their children learn and thrive at child care while at the same time expressing concerns in coordinating schedules and facing the real challenges of being able to pay for these services within the changing state regulations on child care subsidies.

 

Caregivers recount the value of their work to both the children they care for and to their working parents. These concerned practitioners speak of the issues they face in providing the quality of the care that each child deserves. They also describe the difficulty of getting by on the pay they receive.

 

The stories of both parents and practitioners are embedded in the political and economic issues of our time. Information on the current child care situation broadens our understanding of the issues that shape what parents and caregivers experience.

 

Taking a Closer Look at Child Care (2016) was produced by the Committee on Child Care in Chicago. This short documentary, under 20 minutes, is available for showing and can be used to broaden the understanding of child care in urban settings today.