Day care or child care is care of a toddler during the day by a person other than the child’s parents or legal guardians, typically someone outside the child’s immediate family. The service is known as ‘child care’ in the United Kingdom and Australia and ‘day care’ in North America. Child care or day care is provided in nurseries or crèches or by child minders caring for children in their own homes.
Babysitting is the occasional temporary care of a child during the absence of his or her parents. Child care or day care is ongoing care during specific periods, such as the parents’ time at work. Child care can also take on a more formal structure, with education, child development, discipline and even preschool falling into the fold of services.
Some child minders care for children from several families at the same time, either in their own home or in a specialized child care facility. Some employers provide nursery provision for their employees at or near the place of employment.
Child care in the child’s own home is traditionally provided by a nanny or au pair, or by a extended family member including grandparents, aunts and uncles.
Family day cares can be operated by a single individual out of their home. There may be occasions when more than one individual cares for children in a family childcare home. This can be a stay-at-home parent who seeks supplemental income while caring for their own child. There are also many family childcare providers who have chosen this field as a profession. Local legislation will regulate the number and ages of children allowed per family child care home.
Some localities have very stringent quality standards that require licensure for family child care homes while others require little or no regulations for childcare in individual’s homes. Some home day cares operate illegally with respect to tax legislation where the care provider does not report fees as income and the parent does not receive a receipt to qualify for childcare tax deductions. Family childcare may be less expensive than center based care because of the lower overhead in family childcare. Many family childcare providers may be certified with the same credentials as center based staff.
Day care in the UK
The UK has a wide range of childcare offered, including child minders, day nurseries; playgroups and can also include pre-school education at school. It is regulated by OFSTED in England while it is CSSIW in Wales. These authorities operate the application and inspection process for the sector. The sector is primarily funded by the parents. However, the Nursery Education Grant (pre-school funding) can be used at some day-nurseries, playgroups and schools. The government introduced a childcare allowance by which employers could make payments for childcare, prior to tax, on employees wages.
