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... 1975) or threat to personal identity. For example, although some studies show that a majority of men want to be more involved in child care and domestic activities, Pleck (1983) found that only 42 % of working mothers wanted more help with child care from their husband. Pleck suggested that mothers discourage paternal involvement in domestic and child-care activities because of their traditionally based notions that men are unaccustomed to and careless about performing such tasks. When mothers do "allow" participation it has to be done on their terms. In this way, they actively manage their husband's participation (Marsiglio, 1991).
In attempts to account for maternal effects on fathering, social learning and exchange theorists (McBride, 1990) have suggested that factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the father-child relationship should be considered. For example, mothers may encourage certain levels of father child involvement based on cultural values or on the relationship they had with their own father. In this view, a wife whose husband meets these expectations would be more satisfied with his involvement as a father. Several maternal role-related dimensions may influence aspects of father child interaction. One of the key determinants of parenting style is spousal support (Belsky, 1984).
A positive marital relationship provides important emotional support needed for sensitive parenting. (Goldberg & Easterbrooks, 1984). For example, Pedersen demonstrated that mothers benefit from a husband's emotional support. Moreover, fathers who receive social support and encouragement from their wives report feeling a higher sense of parental competence, regardless of the temperamental difficulty of the infant (Bumpass, 1990). According to Belsky, fathers are especially in need of emotional support to maintain their parenting role. Research has shown that frequency of marital communication and marital quality are related to positive fathering behaviors, and that the marital relationship is affected negatively when maternal expectations of child-care assistance from the father are not met (McBride, 1993).
Other researchers have found a positive correlation between marital quality and levels of paternal involvement. In contrast, Cohen found that perceptions of marital quality were not a determinant of father involvement during the transition to parenthood. Cohen reported that marital negativity was associated with higher levels of father involvement with school-aged children. (Cohen, 1985). Mothers's atis faction with their employment status also influences fathering. Stuckey, McGhee, and Bell (1982) found that "negative affect was exhibited more frequently by parents with attitudes toward dual career roles for women that didn't match the employment status of the mother in the family. " Although some researchers have found that time spent with children by both mothers and fathers is affected by the mother's work status (Nock & Kingston, 1988), others have reported that maternal employment is a poor predictor of father involvement In addition to marital and employment satisfaction, satisfaction with social support also influences parenting (Belsky, 1984). Stuckey defined social support as information that leads the individual to believe that he or she is appreciated and is a member of a network of communication.
Perceived support (an appraisal that one's environment is helpful), social embedded ness (the quantity and identity of individuals in one's network), and enacted support (actual supportive behaviors performed by network members, such as material aid, esteem support, and advice) have been identified as three aspects of this construct (Stuckey, 1982). Belsky speculated that esteem support indicates to the individual that she is valued by others, perhaps leading to enhanced self-esteem and a feeling of mastery over stressors. Informational support may assist the individual to understand and cope more effectively with stressors. Numerous studies have indicated that behavior is influenced by perceptions of self-efficacy. Individuals may expend little energy in situations where they sense that their behavior has little influence on the outcomes. Mothers who believe that father involvement is important may be more likely to encourage paternal involvement than other mothers.
Conversely, mothers who do not think such involvement is valuable may not actively encourage such participation. For example, Stuckey (1982) reported that mothers' values and beliefs about parenting influenced fathering behaviors. They found that a father's degree of involvement in parenting was a function of the mother's beliefs about what is important and necessary. A positive relationship between amount of encouragement and satisfaction with father involvement is to be expected. More specifically, a mother who encourages father child interaction, and whose husband meets maternal standards, should be expected to report higher levels of satisfaction with father involvement than should a mother whose husband does not interact more frequently with their children despite her encouragement to do so.
Most of today's families find themselves in entirely different situations. Two-parent households are an increasing rarity. So are mothers who don't have a job outside the home. Fathers often work more but earn less. As a result, in 1987, for the first time in history, more than half of all American mothers with infants and toddlers were working or looking for work. In 1992 the figure reached 54 percent.
Employment levels are even higher among mothers with older children. With the current emphasis on work rather than welfare, these numbers will only increase. Times have changed, but, ironically, when it comes to childcare, necessity has not been the mother of invention. Now, however, predicament may prevail over preference.
According to a new study, ''Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes, '' conducted by child psychologists and economists, childcare are worse than believed. The findings are disturbing. Eighty-six percent of child-care centers provide care so mediocre that it may interfere with children's emotional and intellectual development and compromise their readiness for school. The study says that only 14 percent of centers offer high-quality care, including safe surroundings, adult warmth, and stimulating learning opportunities. (Bronfenbrenner, 1983). Most of us can imagine what constitutes bad childcare. But creating good childcare is more complicated.
Barbara Reisman, executive director of the Child Care Action Campaign in New York and a technical adviser to the study, stressed that the most important component is a well-trained, well paid staff. As for teachers, those who ''know how to draw learning out of a child's play'' will most effectively generate the warm and caring environment necessary for learning. (Campbell, 1996). When we consider that by the time a child is 1, brain growth is 80 percent complete, and that by the age of 3, he or she should have developed a sense of empathy and curiosity, it is inevitable that care and education become one. In its absence is a rapidly growing child care industry lacking consistent or adequate public support -- a patch-work of child care in which the "cost" of the service is closely tied to what parents are able or willing to pay. The result is a persistent and unfair linkage between what parents pay and what caregivers earn, captured succinctly in the verse, "Parents can't afford to pay, so teachers can't afford to stay. " (Simons, R. , Whitbeck, L. , Conger, R. , & Melby, J. 1990). Most young families cannot afford the real cost of good childcare, which is estimated at $ 8, 000 to $ 10, 000 a year per child.
This cost is far beyond the 10 % to 15 % of family income that is reasonable for childcare expenses. Financial help is available only for a small portion of very low-income families, and in small amounts through a tax credit received mainly by high-income families. Most middle- and working-class families, and many poor families, get no assistance at all. As a result, the "cost" has been "adjusted" downward by paying teachers and providers unlivable wages that do not reflect their education, skill and responsibility. (Campbell, 1976).
Failure to break the link between teachers' wages and parents' ability to pay represents a fundamental refusal to regard young children's care and education as a public responsibility similar to that of educating school-age children. This unwillingness carries a price: children who do not enter school ready to learn, expensive remedial education services, and ultimately adults who lack emotional well being and skills for the job market. For every dollar that we invest in good childcare programs for children, we will save seven dollars of public funds down the road. (Bronfenbrenner, 1983). Adequate financing by government and by the employers of parents would make it possible to maintain a stable, qualified workforce and to keep parents' Costs affordable. Breaking the link between teachers salaries and parents' ability to pay is the principle shaping efforts to improve child care wages, while helping all parents gain access to high quality care. Words: 3, 168.
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