Child care: Meeting the needs of working mothers and their children

This issue of SEEDS, developed in cooperation with the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, with support from UNICEF, seeks to bring together the critical elements of women\u27s work and child care, reviewing the issues from three different perspectives: child care as a means of enabling women to work, as a source of employment for women, and as a way of meeting the developmental needs of young children. The report examines three different UNICEF-supported approaches to child care on three different continents—Asia (Nepal), Africa (Ethiopia), and South America (Ecuador)—that have been developed with the needs of working women in mind and, in two instances, alongside program components that support women\u27s economic activities. These examples not only offer positive solutions for women who work, but also provide opportunities for many women to receive training and to develop management and leadership skills as well as gain employment as child-care providers

Early Child Development: Summary Report, Innocenti Global Seminar

Development of young children encompasses their survival and good health. It also involves their cognitive, emotional, ethical and social growth. Yet research findings have not yet been fully digested or appropriated by the international community for its policies and programmes. It is not widely enough known that meeting the social and psychological needs of young children and intergrating them with nutritional and health needs can be accomplished at relatively low cost. Policy must recognise that what the child experiences from birth onward influences the society of the future.child survival and development; early childhood development; right to survival and development;Global;

Women, Work and Child Care. Global Seminar Report, 1991

child care; women workers;Global;

Children in Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe

To help deal with the particular needs of children at a time of rapid political and economic change in central and eastern Europe, in 1990 the UNICEF Executive Board approved a special three-year effort of "transitional support". In response to specific requests for cooperation, UNICEF was authorized "to provide technical support to rethink policies for child survival, development and protection in the context of the new situations" and to support "data collection on the situation of children and women, analytical studies, technical workshops, information materials and other related activities".economic transition; institutionalized children;Central Europe; Eastern Europe;

El cuidado infantil: Respuestas a las necesidades de madres que trabajan y sus hijos

Este número de SEEDS, desarrollada en cooperación con el Grupo Asesor sobre Cuidado y Desarrollo Infantil, y apoyada por UNICEF, busca reunir los elementos críticos del trabajo de la mujer y el cuidado infantil, estudiando el tema desde tres perspectivas: el cuidado infantil como servicio que permite que la mujer pueda trabajar, como fuente de empleo para la mujer, y como respuesta a los requerimientos del desarrollo infantil. Examina tres distintos tipos de cuidado infantil apoyados por UNICEF en tres continentes—Asia (Nepal), Africa (Etiopia), y América Latina (Ecuador). Los tres proyectos fueron desarrollados específicamente para madres que trabajan, y dos también son parte de programas que apoyan actividades económicas para la mujer. Estos proyectos no solo han servido como soluciones positivas para mujeres que trabajan, sino que han hecho posible que muchas de ellas reciban entrenamiento y desarrollen capacidades de administración y liderazgo, además de conseguir empleos como cuidadoras infantiles. This issue of SEEDS, developed in cooperation with the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, with support from UNICEF, seeks to bring together the critical elements of women\u27s work and child care, reviewing the issues from three different perspectives: child care as a means of enabling women to work, as a source of employment for women, and as a way of meeting the developmental needs of young children. The report examines three different UNICEF-supported approaches to child care on three different continents—Asia (Nepal), Africa (Ethiopia), and South America (Ecuador)—that have been developed with the needs of working women in mind and, in two instances, alongside program components that support women\u27s economic activities. These examples not only offer positive solutions for women who work, but also provide opportunities for many women to receive training and to develop management and leadership skills as well as gain employment as child-care providers

How trauma related to sex trafficking challenges parenting:Insights from Mexican and Central American survivors in the US

Sex trafficking, a form of human trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, with a global prevalence of 4.5 million, has pervasive effects in the mental and physical health of survivors. However, little is known about the experiences and needs of Latinx migrants (the majority of sex trafficking victims in the US) after trafficking, particularly regarding parenting. This QUAL-quant study examines how 14 survivors of sex trafficking (mean age = 30) from Mexico and Central America encounter and respond to parenting experiences after escaping sexual exploitation. Combining a bio-ecological model of parenting with Zimmerman's framework on human trafficking we identified how trauma related to sex trafficking can challenge parenting and how relational and contextual pre and post trafficking factors (dis)enable women to respond to such challenges. Psychological consequences of daily victimization primarily manifested in three ways: overprotective parenting in a world perceived to be unsafe, emotional withdraw when struggling with stress and mental health symptoms, and challenges building confidence as mothers. These experiences were accentuated by pre-trafficking experiences of neglect and abuse, forced separation from their older children, poverty post-trafficking, and migration-related stressors. Yet, finding meaning in the birth of their child, having social support, and faith, also enable mothers to cope with such challenges. We conclude that motherhood after surviving sex trafficking presents new challenges and opportunities in the path to recovery from trauma. Interventions at the policy, community and individual level are needed to support survivors of sex trafficking as they enter motherhood

“Getting Ready for School:” A Preliminary Evaluation of a Parent-Focused School-Readiness Program

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to start school with fewer school readiness skills than their more advantaged peers. Emergent literacy and math skills play an important role in this gap. The family is essential in helping children build these skills, and the active involvement of families is crucial to the success of any intervention for young children. The Getting Ready for School (GRS) program is a parent-focused curriculum designed to help parents equip their children with the skills and enthusiasm necessary for learning when they start school. Parents meet in weekly workshops led by a trained facilitator and implement the curriculum at home with their children. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the promise of the GRS intervention in children participating in an urban Head Start program and to explore parents' responses to the intervention. We hypothesized that participation in GRS would improve school readiness in literacy and math skills, relative to participation in business-as-usual Head Start. Four Head Start classrooms (two randomly selected “intervention” and two “comparison” classrooms) participated in this study. Preliminary analyses suggest that GRS improves school readiness over and above a Head Start-as-usual experience. Implications for early childhood programs and policies are discussed

Parent Involvement in the Getting Ready for School Intervention Is Associated With Changes in School Readiness Skills

The role of parent involvement in school readiness interventions is not well-understood. The Getting Ready for School (GRS) intervention is a novel program that has both home and school components and aims to improve early literacy, math, and self-regulatory skills in preschool children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. In this study, we first examined associations between family characteristics and different indices of parent involvement in the GRS intervention. We then examined associations between parent involvement and change in children's school readiness skills over time. Participants were 133 preschool children attending Head Start and their parents who participated in the GRS intervention during the academic year 2014–2015. Parent involvement was operationalized as attendance to GRS events at the school, time spent at home doing GRS activities, and usage of digital program materials, which included a set of videos to support the implementation of parent-child activities at home. Although few family characteristics were significantly associated with parent involvement indices, there was a tendency for some markers of higher socioeconomic status to be linked with greater parent involvement. In addition, greater parent involvement in the GRS intervention was significantly associated with greater gains in children's early literacy, math, and self-regulatory skills. These findings suggest that parent involvement in comprehensive early interventions could be beneficial in terms of improving school readiness for preschoolers from disadvantaged families