Until very recently in human history 100% of childcare operations were unlicensed, and this was better in every way than a government bureaucracy run system.

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sudosteph 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'm not knocking it. My parents didn't use licensed daycare for preschool for me or my sister. Just dropped us off at some old lady's house and paid her cash for watching us. 99% of arrangements like that work out fine. It may be suboptimal, but usually it's at least fine.

I'm actually wondering if the program will make a big dent though. One issue with formal childcare arrangements is that the hours tend to not be flexible. Parents who have to work til 6 some nights, or who have nontraditional work schedules in general may not be better served by the state's option.

	▲	terminalshort 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It may be suboptimal, but what isn't? The problem here is assuming that the expensive bureaucratic credential based system is optimal or even better at all. "Everybody knows $SOME_NEIGHBOR and she's great with kids" is just a much better indicator of quality in child care than "$SOME_DAYCARE is licensed by $SOME_BUREAUCRACY." Also, I'm not even against state support for parents needing childcare, but giving $500 a month to each parent who needs it to find childcare in an informal system will actually be much better than a state run system that spends $2000 per kid.

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crazygringo an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Until recently, you had personally known everyone, for years, who you might hand your child off to for a few hours.

We have things like licensing because we're handing off our children to perfect strangers, and want some level of assurance that it's not going to be a disaster.

	▲	terminalshort 25 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		We are only handing them off to complete strangers because the informal system has been driven underground by laws that only allow the state licensed bureaucratic monopoly. If state licensing was optional and people were allowed to run neighborhood businesses I bet you would see something very different.

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kittensmittens5 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Until recently in human history 100% of humans were illiterate.

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zeroonetwothree 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

“Recently” seems to mean something different in your comment than the one you replied to. As in at least an order of magnitude difference, maybe two.

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rs186 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Terrible analogy.

btw analogy is not a good way to win arguments.

	▲	kirubakaran 17 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Winning arguments with analogies is like painting still life with a broad brush

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mariusor 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Even with the terrible state of education in most nations, that is a patently untrue sentence at least in the fact that poor people can have access to education at all.

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terminalshort 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I didn't say anything about school. This article is about childcare for children below school age. But basic education is also actually quite cheap and easy to provide. Abraham Lincoln was educated in a one room school house. We have made it expensive by turning it into a bureaucratic nightmare with administrators, school boards, lawyers, and PTAs, when all you really need is a few good teachers who are given the authority to set and enforce high standards.

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mariusor 2 hours ago | parent [-]

"until very recently" includes pre-industrial times to my understanding when education did not exist in an organized fashion for the poor.

[edit] And in what world is Abraham Lincoln considered "the poor" for his times? I am sure you can come up with some less fortunate people during the same times which didn't really get the experience of that one room schoolhouse.

	▲	trollbridge 20 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Illinois had universal free public school since 1825, so no, you couldn’t find anyone who didn’t have access to that experience (or better).
	▲	terminalshort 23 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> And in what world is Abraham Lincoln considered "the poor" In the world where he was born on the frontier in a log cabin, which is this one.