The After-school Lives of Children: Alone and With Others While Parents Work

by Belle, Deborah

• ISBN13: 9780805823257
• ISBN10: 0805823255
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

Based on research about after-school experiences and dilemmas conducted over a four-year period with employed parents and their children, this book draws on the stories these parents and children told--often using their actual words--to emphasize the wide variety of children's after-school arrangements, children's movement over time in and out of different arrangements, and the importance to children of multiple facets of their after-school arrangements, not simply the presence or absence of an adult caretaker. The book also emphasizes that children are not randomly assigned to after-school arrangements. Rather, parents and children struggle to reach optimal solutions to what are often difficult child care dilemmas. To understand these dilemmas, and the diverse strategies that families adopt, one must attend to the individual situations of children as family members understand them. This book was written to contribute to the development of new family and work policies and practices by illuminating the difficulties families face and their consequences for children. Written for psychologists, sociologists, and other social scientists who study families, maternal employment, child care, or child development, it will also be useful for parents, educators, community leaders, and public policymakers concerned about the well being of children whose parents are employed.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(12)
Do School-Age Children Need Adult Supervision?	13	(24)
A Different Approach to the Question	37	(14)
Dilemmas	51	(30)
Changes in After-School Arrangements Over Time	81	(15)
Stressful Challenges in the After-School Hours	96	(16)
Social Relationships and Social Support	112	(28)
After-School Arrangements and Children's Well-Being	140	(19)
Implications	159	(10)
Appendix	169	(3)
References	172	(11)
Index	183