Caring for young children is work.\ud
It is arduous, time consuming, socially\ud
useful work. In Australia,\ud
the people who carry out this work,\ud
mainly women, are seen by the\ud
community- at large to have a responsibility\ud
to perform this work\ud
to a minimum standard enshrined\ud
in State legislation such as Victoria's\ud
Children and Young Persons Act\ud
1989. Yet the people who do this\ud
work have no corresponding right\ud
to a fair share of community resources,\ud
and are not the only ones\ud
whose labour is appropriated and\ud
exploited in this way. Others include\ud
people caring for relatives\ud
with disabilities and people with\ud
significant disabilities who save the\ud
community resources by caring for\ud
themselves. However, this article\ud
will focus on the care of young\ud
children
