Overview

The quality of life in Australian society in the 1980s if measured by the level of commitment to children's services, must surely be cause for concern, if not alarm.  The Victorian Government's review of early childhood services presents an opportunity to restate the many cogent arguments in favour of a wide range of readily available, affordable services for families with young children.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies is of the view that the provision of adequate levels of such services is essential if the well-being of many thousands of families is to be enhanced and if the problems and pressures facing thousands more are to be alleviated. The Institute is also of the view that national, social and economic recovery cannot be achieved fully if strenuous efforts are not made to upgrade what was always an inadequate system into a comprehensive and well resourced network of children's services

Contents

• List of Tables
• Introduction
  • Definitions and emphasis
• The changing environment of family and society
  • Changes in family types
  • Families and work
  • The importance of women in the workforce
  • Summary
• Child care arrangements
  • Cost of care
  • Formal. and informal child care
  • Summary
• Rationale for children's services
  • Parents and additional caregivers
  • Mothers' role in development
  • Mother versus caregiver
  • Fathers' role in development
  • The role of peers in early childhood
• Policies for children's services
  • The provision of children's services
  • Governmental responsibility for children's services
  • Concluding statement
• References