CARE AND SUPPORT PROVIDED TO CHILDREN ATTENDING DAY CARE CENTERS WITHIN MATHARE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS, NAIROBI COUNTY KENYA
Background of the Study
Daycare is the partial care to children who are more than six by caregivers on behalf of the children’s parents for a period that is temporary during the day and sometimes it may include care that is overnight (Zaal, 2001). Daycare operates on contractual terms where parents or other custodians make payments for care of their children when they are away performing other duties like work or at school. The care provided by day care centers is partial as it alternates with the care provided by parents or guardians.
During the early years, children were typically cared for predominantly by their parents. Children also received care from members of the extended family, friends, and neighbors (Anhert & Lamb, 2011). But as countries changed to become industrialized, this trend has changed, as a majority of the children are now in the hands of caregivers in daycare centers. A substantial number of young children in the high-income nations experience daycare before pre-school entry. Recent estimates in the United States indicate that two-thirds of children aged 3-5 years attend some form of daycare before being admitted to kindergarten (Peisner-Feinberg, 2007). For the developed countries, the role of daycare is potentially a two-fold scenario: First, daycare makes it feasible for parents to secure employment and comfortably go to work. In an era where most societies have adopted welfare reform, where mothers who are able-bodied are expected to work irrespective of their children’s age, childcare role has increasingly become important. Second, childcare provision during the early stages of a child may enhance child development, particularly for disadvantaged children.
In Kenya, before colonization, the upbringing of a child was a community responsibility where everyone had the obligation of raising a child even if the child was not his/hers (Woodhead, 1996). During the 1940’s preschools were introduced in Kenya but were meant to serve the white settlers and Asians, children, only (Kipkorir & Njenga, 1993). Daycare centers for Africans emerged during the Mau Mau independence war. During that time daycare offered activities such as dancing, stories, and singing.
Kenyan mothers who live in urban areas that are resource limited suffer the most as they lack kin support for child care, and rely on low-paying jobs in the informal sector. As a result of urbanization, cultural changes emerged. These cultural changes placed women with the responsibility of taking care of the household. Women position in the home meant that they could not be available for paid economic activities thus lowering their chances of getting economically empowered (Brun & Liu, 2013). Women are forced to stay at home with their children because mainstream preschools can only admit children aged between 4-6 years. Children who are from the age of 0-3 are left out whose childhood care demand continues to be on the increase as there is need for women to engage in other forms of activities to raise income. As a result of this there has been a proliferation of day care centers, to address the growing need of women to engage in work.
References
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