The Evolution of Coming Out; The Formula Shortage Boosted Breastfeeding; Most Teens Say Gender is Determined by Sex at Birth; America Already Has Subsidized Childcare (Social Security) + more.
I'm so intrigued by the daycare/going back to work situation for Finnish moms (and anyone else who thinks group care isn't appropriate and/or desirable at young ages) - my question would be how many children are these women ending up having? Because staying home for a good long while before going back to work doesn't really make sense if you're.... having multiple kids? Like by the time you're doing that you might be having another child and starting over? So I can see this working with very low fertility families. This is part of the reason many women just.... care for their kids themselves, because they plan on having more than a couple. Maybe I'm missing something!? haha It just seems to suit a very particular mother, and I suppose that's fine! Maybe Finnish families are quite small.
Okay I actually wonder about that all the time haha. Not just in Finland but Sweden and other places with long, long leaves. Like I think if you want to keep working (which I get!) and also want to be at home for a 2 years after you have a kid (which I also get!) then there's pressure to kinda...do that once or twice, right?
Great stuff! Re: what to make of the formula shortage study, perhaps it reinforces the notion that poor women who use formula disproportionately do it for reasons other than medical necessity (ie they're physically capable of breastfeeding but use formula for reasons e.g. their job isn't breastfeeding friendly). Not the most solid evidence, but maybe it lightly suggests we should give these women the support they need to breastfeed if they want to.
In Australia and Vietnam (the two countries I've raised small children in) it feels like every kid is in daycare by 12 months. In Vietnam, we didn't send ours until age 3 and all of our neighbors thought it was a bit weird we waited so long. In Australia I had a friend tell us they sent their kids to daycare at 12 months (even though they are well off, had a nanny, and the mom could take as long or short of a career break as she wanted/needed) because, in her words, "all the other kids are in daycare by then, so the parks are empty and there are no other kids to play with if they don't go to daycare". I thought she was exaggerating but now having small kids in Australia I can't help but think she's not too far off.
The Finland study is very interesting! I know generally that Finland has a stronger welfare state/less economic disparity than the US, but I’m curious if there are daycare quality variations by SES - do less expensive neighborhoods end up with worse daycares nearby, is it easier for higher income parents to get into high quality daycares, etc. I think this could have a big impact on the roll out of subsidized child care in the US and has also been one of my concerns with a system that only supports formal market care - how do I know that what I can access will be the same as parents in wealthy neighborhoods?
Re too young for daycare, I also wonder if there’s surveys about believing a certain age in general is too young versus a particular kid. My oldest and second started preschool at different ages, and I think they both started when they were ready (though our current program doesn’t offer a short week for 3 year olds so I frequently keep her home because 5 mornings is a lot at that age).
Yes, I share your concerns about only subsidizing market care--I really think the option of home care needs to exist almost as a means of regulating the formal care market. Parents need a way of exerting pressure on formal care institutions, or at least opting out in case they fall short.
And yeah like so many of these "what's best" questions, it's sort of silly to try and answer it for the EveryKid lol. Kids are different!
I'm so intrigued by the daycare/going back to work situation for Finnish moms (and anyone else who thinks group care isn't appropriate and/or desirable at young ages) - my question would be how many children are these women ending up having? Because staying home for a good long while before going back to work doesn't really make sense if you're.... having multiple kids? Like by the time you're doing that you might be having another child and starting over? So I can see this working with very low fertility families. This is part of the reason many women just.... care for their kids themselves, because they plan on having more than a couple. Maybe I'm missing something!? haha It just seems to suit a very particular mother, and I suppose that's fine! Maybe Finnish families are quite small.
Okay I actually wonder about that all the time haha. Not just in Finland but Sweden and other places with long, long leaves. Like I think if you want to keep working (which I get!) and also want to be at home for a 2 years after you have a kid (which I also get!) then there's pressure to kinda...do that once or twice, right?
The fertility rate in Finland is 1.26 children per woman, quite a bit lower than in the US. They aren't having multiple kids, generally.
Great stuff! Re: what to make of the formula shortage study, perhaps it reinforces the notion that poor women who use formula disproportionately do it for reasons other than medical necessity (ie they're physically capable of breastfeeding but use formula for reasons e.g. their job isn't breastfeeding friendly). Not the most solid evidence, but maybe it lightly suggests we should give these women the support they need to breastfeed if they want to.
I think you might be onto something there!
There are probably studies out there that can offer more direct insight into this topic haha but still
Enjoyed everything here! Lots of surprises in these various findings.
Thank you! Glad you liked it :)
In Australia and Vietnam (the two countries I've raised small children in) it feels like every kid is in daycare by 12 months. In Vietnam, we didn't send ours until age 3 and all of our neighbors thought it was a bit weird we waited so long. In Australia I had a friend tell us they sent their kids to daycare at 12 months (even though they are well off, had a nanny, and the mom could take as long or short of a career break as she wanted/needed) because, in her words, "all the other kids are in daycare by then, so the parks are empty and there are no other kids to play with if they don't go to daycare". I thought she was exaggerating but now having small kids in Australia I can't help but think she's not too far off.
The Finland study is very interesting! I know generally that Finland has a stronger welfare state/less economic disparity than the US, but I’m curious if there are daycare quality variations by SES - do less expensive neighborhoods end up with worse daycares nearby, is it easier for higher income parents to get into high quality daycares, etc. I think this could have a big impact on the roll out of subsidized child care in the US and has also been one of my concerns with a system that only supports formal market care - how do I know that what I can access will be the same as parents in wealthy neighborhoods?
Re too young for daycare, I also wonder if there’s surveys about believing a certain age in general is too young versus a particular kid. My oldest and second started preschool at different ages, and I think they both started when they were ready (though our current program doesn’t offer a short week for 3 year olds so I frequently keep her home because 5 mornings is a lot at that age).
Yes, I share your concerns about only subsidizing market care--I really think the option of home care needs to exist almost as a means of regulating the formal care market. Parents need a way of exerting pressure on formal care institutions, or at least opting out in case they fall short.
And yeah like so many of these "what's best" questions, it's sort of silly to try and answer it for the EveryKid lol. Kids are different!