Raising
healthy children is the most important responsibility of parents, but
it is also one of the most important responsibilities of our society.
Healthy children become healthier adults, and contribute to the strength
of our economy. There is much to be done to ensure that families have
the support they need from workplaces and communities so that all
children have high-quality care from birth on.
Most
modern American families are made up of two-income households, meaning
that their children are often left in the care of professionals in
centers, schools or in private homes while both parents work. In 2011,
approximately 12 million children under the age of 5 spent an average of
35 hours a week in child care. A greater percentage of children under
the age of 5 are in child care compared to school-age children, and
parents of these children pay an average of $179 a week for care. Child
care represents an expensive, yet critical, part of the American family.
The
quality of child care is extremely important when one considers that
the children who participate in this system the most are also in a
critical stage of brain development. Children who experience
high-quality child care score higher in academic and cognitive
achievement even ten years after their child care has ended.
Working
parents need high quality, accessible, and affordable child care
options, as well as information to help them make the best possible
choices. Some employers recognize the importance of child care to the
health of their businesses and local economies, and they provide
valuable benefits like paid family leave and paid sick days so that
parents can find quality child care or care for their children
themselves when necessary. Communities also play a vital role by making
sure that standards for child care providers are enforced, and that
there are many good options for working parents.
By
recognizing that healthy, well-cared for children are an important
investment in our economy and local communities, we can help America
grow stronger.
Read More:
FYI: Other news from the
Clinton Foundation.
President and Chelsea Clinton Travel to Africa to Visit Clinton Foundation Projects
Jul 26, 2013 | Clinton Foundation | New York, NY
| Press Release
Visit
will highlight Foundation work in economic growth and empowerment,
equality of opportunity, and health access in 5 countries
(New York, NY)—On July 31- August
8, President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will travel to Africa to
visit Clinton Foundation projects in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania (including
Zanzibar), Rwanda, and South Africa. This trip, and the projects
visited, will highlight many of the issues that President and Chelsea
Clinton have long worked on—economic growth and empowerment, equality of
opportunity, and health access.
Fifteen years ago, in 1998, President Clinton first traveled to
Africa as President. This was the longest and most extensive trip to
the continent made by a sitting American president, and was the first
time a sitting president traveled to each of his six destinations.
President Clinton’s trip followed a seminal visit that Chelsea and
then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton made the year before. Since
their initial trips, President and Chelsea Clinton have continued to
build upon their longstanding commitment to Africa through the work of
the Clinton Foundation, providing investment, opportunity, and health
access to underserved communities. In July 2012, both President and
Chelsea Clinton traveled to Africa to visit Clinton Foundation sites in
South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda, and in October 2012,
Chelsea visited Nigeria for the launch of the Nigerian government’s Save
One Million Lives Initiative to reduce child mortality.
